- The CS said his ministry is also seeking support from development partners considering the extent of the damage.
- Murkomen said restoration of the destroyed infrastructure has begun.
Image: FILE
The damage to roads and transport infrastructure caused by last year’s El Nino last and recent flooding stands at Sh37.3 billion, Roads and Transport CS Kipchumba Murkomen has revealed.
Murkomen said a technical assessment showed the damage on rural roads stands at Sh18.5 billion while the destruction of national and urban roads is estimated at Sh9.7 billion and Sh9.1 billion respectively.
“Restoration of this destroyed infrastructure has begun, starting with the most critical ones where people are cut off, even as we wait for allocation in the next financial year,” Murkomen said after meeting regional roads directors from the various road agencies.
In a statement, the CS said his ministry is also seeking support from development partners considering the extent of the damage.
Murkomen noted that he challenged the directors to find ways of achieving the best possible quality with the available resources.
“This means there is a need for increased accountability on the use of road resources. Closer supervision of works is critical to ensure value for money,” he added.
The CS called for strict adherence to road maintenance standards and standard operating procedures.
“I urged the directors to ensure adherence of standards on road structures such as road bumps and ensure timely markings and signages even for temporary works,” he stated.
He said Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) roads without maintenance funds are a key concern to the ministry.
“We discussed ways of ensuring the distribution of resources from the Roads Maintenance Levy can go towards correcting this situation, in conjunction with Parliament,” he said.
Murkomen directed KeRRA to submit the total road network that has no maintenance allocation as well as roads that have been destroyed for the Ministry’s corrective action.
The CS added that in order to raise the resources needed for the expansion and maintenance of the network, the ministry is keen on dualling and tolling some roads.
“We are progressing a policy on dualling and tolling under Public-Private-Partnership and we shall be communicating on this. We shall ensure that the policy is progressive and affordable,” he said.
Image: FILE