Uhuru unveils SGR second phase, tells off critics of project
President Uhuru Kenyatta officially opened the $1.5 billion (Sh150 billion) Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line from Mombasa to Suswa yesterday, saying the project will terminate as was originally envisioned despite pessimism in some quarters.
The project is among others which are set to breathe a new lease of life to the economies of the region such as the establishment of Special Economic Zones (SEZs), construction of container marshalling yards alongside the Inland Container Depot (ICD).
Extension of Phase 3 of the SGR, described as 2B to Kisumu, will pass through Narok, Bomet, Kericho, Nyamira, Bondo, Homa Bay and other parts of the former South Nyanza District .
“Some prophets of doom say this railway is going to nowhere but as a government we know what we are doing as we are planning for the future,” he said.
Launching the Inland Container Depot near Mai Mahiu town in Nakuru county, Uhuru said that Sh6.9 billion had been allocated for the depot and it was set for completion before the end the year.
“When we started commissioning the construction of the Syokimau-Suswa line, they said the same, but we are riding on it. And when we are launching it, they are saying, it is going nowhere, but we are telling them that it is headed to somewhere, and we will complete it to Kisumu,” the Head of State said yesterday.
He said the economic potential in every corner of the country requires rail connection to catapult Kenya to the rest of the world.
To entice more investors to the park, Kenya is banking offering tax breaks to those interested in investing in manufacturing, coupled with preferential tariffs for electricity generated in the nearby geothermal fields and the Turkana wind farm in Loiyangalani.
Industrial park
Preliminary arrangements such as setting up a 220kv line to the new industrial park has commenced with Kenya Electricity Transmission Company Ltd (Ketraco) ready to link the economic zone directly to the national grid.
Jaswinder Bedi, the chairman of Kenya Export Promotion and Branding Agency (KEPROBA) said the ICD would be a cheaper and easy way of getting his merchandise to the Port of Mombasa for export. “Garment or textile business overseas is now a lucrative undertaking overtaking coffee. So I am setting up the first textile for export company here,” he told People Daily.
National Treasury set aside Sh700 million for the provision of water to the Special Economic Zone in Mai Mahiu area of Naivasha as works in the multi-billion-shilling project is expected to kick off on the 1,000 acres site.
The project is a scion of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative of multi-billion dollar infrastructure projects for upgrading land and maritime trade routes between China and Europe, Asia and Africa.
Uhuru said Kenya had already given land to Uganda and South Susan for the construction at the dry port within the Naivasha Industrial Park to help them ease movement of goods through the SGR to the neighbouring countries. “We have offered land to our neighbours in the 1,000 acres set for industrial park and we expect thousands to get employment opportunities,” he said.
The deal cuts short the journey the countries make to Mombasa to collect and clear goods destined for Juba and Kampala even as more countries show interest of similar arrangements.
Uganda is one of the biggest markets for Kenyan goods and client to the Port of Mombasa, particularly for transit cargo. Other regional countries that benefit from the Mombasa port are Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), South Sudan and Rwanda.
Traditional financing
“The road infrastructure network in Kenya alone requires Sh400 billion. This is amid a shrinking traditional financing environment, the reason we are going for the Public Private Partnership models to be able to fund the expensive SGR,” Uhuru said.
By George Kebaso, Silas Mwiti and Fred Aminga
