Date: Mon, 4 May 2009 08:18:36 -0700 [10:18:36 AM CDT]
From: Leo Odera Omolo
Subject: KIBAKI AND KIKWETE LAUNCHED MULTI MILLION DOLLARS TRANS-AFRICA ROAD PROJECT BETWEEN ARUSHA AND ATHI RIVER
Business Report by Leo Odera Omolo
The East African Community is scheduled to lunch the Kenya-Tanzania section of a regional road project running from Tanzania to Sudan was lunched last week.
The Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road will link Eastern African countries of Kenya, Uganda, Sudan and Ethiopia. It was lunched jointly by President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya and Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania.Three other presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda ,Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and the Burundi president also witnessed the colorful occasion.
The project touted to be the a major boost to the regions economies, will cost more than Ksh 12 billion (USD 150 million)
The two heads of state first attended the 10th ordinary summit of the Heads of State of the East African Community in Arusha.
The Arusha-Namanga Athi River road is a collaborative effort between the EAC, partner states and donors targeting projects in the regions transport sector. It seeks to ease traffic from Zambia, through Tanzania, Kenya to Ethiopia and Uganda up to Sudan.
Dr. Wilfred Machage, Tanzania’s Dr. Maua Daftari Deputy Minister Communication, Service and Technology and Julius Onen EAC Deputy Secretary General (Project and Programmes)
“The road is strategic to the region and forms part of the priority corridor No. 5 of the EAC regional road network from Tunduna southern Tanzania to Mayale in Northern Kenya, an on word to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia”, read the statement issued after the meeting
This multi-billion dollar project is being co-financed bt the African Development Bank for the Kenya component and the Japanese International Co-operation Agency for the Tanzania component providing jointly a loan totaling USD 156.3 million
A&DB gave Kenya a USD 93.1 million loan for 135 km stretch between Athi River and Namanga while Tanzania received Ksh 5 million (USD 62.5 million) form JICA for the 105 km bring Arusha-Namanga section.
The Kenya project started in November 2007 and is expected to the completed by the end of next year, while work on the Tanzanian link began last year and is expected to last three years.
Ms Bihiya said secretarial colonial also witnessed the signing of the contract on the study for the EAC Transport Strategy and Regional Roads Development Programme between the EAC secretariat and African Ltd.
“The objective of the transport strategy to identify regional strategic and resources for transport sector development and operational needs for the medium term inline with EAC development goals,” she said
The strategy will be the EAC’s Key planning document guiding the regional policies and investments in the transport sector for the next ten years beginning next year.
The EAC Transport strategy is in the overall context of the East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project, which is a regional project aimed at facilitating transportation and flow of goods across the boarders EAC estimate that transport lost in the region constitute about 30 per cent of the value of exports and imports. This has in the turn made the region less competitive.
It is against the background that the world Bank approved preparation of the project to reduce transport costs in the region. It will also enhance import and export traffic from the port of Mombasa, which is the more convenient port for Northern Tanzania on account of distance.
It is also part of the tourist circuit serving the national park of Amboseli and Tsavo in Kenya and Manyara, Ngorongoro and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania.
The Arusha-Namanga section in Tanzania is 105km long and traverses flat coloring terrain, including theLioliondo game control area
It was constructed to bitumen standard in 1967. The road is narrow (about 5.5 meter) and deformed. Average speed is about 70kph traffic on the Arusha side is estimated at about 2,800 vehicles per day and decreases to 450 vehicles per day towards Namanga.
The road has exceeded its design life and is urgently due for reconstruction.
The Namanga Athi River section in Kenya is 135km long in rolling terrain. Having received recent intervention (Re-carpeting in 1995), the section is in better condition, but still characterized by deformations and potholes.
The section sustains quite heavy loading from the cement manufacturing and building industries in Athi River and Nairobi.
The development of the transport sector strategy involves consulting services, experts meetings and stakeholders’ consultations/workshops to assess in detail all modes of transport in their regional dimension.
The strategy will be the EAC key planning document grinding the regional policies and investment in the transport sector for 10year period (2010-2020)
Ends
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