Meru County government has set aside Sh116 million geared towards making Meru a dust-free town.
Addressing the media from his office, Meru Municipality Manager Mbaabu Muguna said various projects were currently underway that will greatly change the face of Meru after completion.
Apart from changing the face of the municipality, he added, the projects will also in various ways open up revenue avenues for the county government. One of the major projects include completion of Makutano Modern Market that will cost Sh54million.
Muguna said the market which initially hosted 110 traders will after completion hold more than 1000 traders.
“The multiplier effect or the number of people who will benefit from this project will automatically increase to about 10,000 traders or households,” said Mr Muguna adding that the project will also increase the amount of revenue in folds.
Recarpeting of the Meru main bus park which was initiated in 1990 is another project that the county government has embarked on.
According to Muguna, the bus park which was opened in 1990 has never been attended to and has since been dilapidated with the drainages being blocked.
“We want to put another cover of the bitumen standard at the stage as well as digging a new drainage system that will effectively carry away water from this area,” said Mr Muguna.
The stage which accommodates about 400 vehicles will also benefit traders who own shops around it.
“We are putting emphasis on this stage realising that it opens up Meru to other counties including Isiolo, Laikipia, Nakuru, Tharaka Nithi, Kitui among others. In a day, it serves close to 50,000 people who leave good money to our county,” he said.
The manager said they were also renovating Moi Avenue which includes recarpeting and improvement of the drainage system, a project that will also increase the number of parking slots within the municipality.
“We have realised that we have many vehicles in the municipality and it would only be wise if we renovated some of the avenues and create new streets in order to increase parking slots,” said Muguna.
He said all the projects together with those that are set to be initiated in the future are aimed at ensuring that every section of the town is carpeted or tarmacked hence realising Governor Kiraitu Murungi’s dream of making Meru a dust-free town.
By Dickson Mwiti
