The government has announced the full resumption of the national roads programme following the clearance of Sh177 billion in pending payments owed to contractors for road projects that stalled during the 2020-2021 period.
The government already paid a total of Sh270 billion to road contractors over the past year, enabling the construction and rehabilitation of approximately 8, 000 kilometres of bitumen roads in all 47 counties.
The announcement was made by Deputy President Prof Kithure Kindiki during a meeting at Harambee House Annex in Nairobi. This is a part of a broader government efforts to revive and accelerate the development of infrastructure projects across the country.
According to Kindiki, the payment of outstanding bills will help the contractors to return to the project sites and continue with the key road infrastructure implementation.
The second in comand stated that enhanced investment in road infrastructure will lead to better connectivity, easier trade, more accessible markets, and overall economic growth.
Besides the national roads initiative, the Government also declared the official start of the modernization of Jomo Kenyatta International Airport this week.The airport upgrade project, which has a budget of Sh155 billion, aims at improving passenger experience, operational efficiency, and performance of the airport through capacity enhancement to serve Kenya’s growing aviation and tourism sectors.
He also received a detailed status report of the ongoing road projects in all the 47 counties during the meeting, such as work progress, work scope, and expected milestones of completion.
They also looked into the implementation strategies of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Modernization Project while the Government once again stressed its dedication to delivering infrastructural projects that foster economic transformation, regional linkages, and sustainable national development.
