Kenya set to lose to TZ yet again as faulty multi-billion oil jetty launched by Uhuru found faulty

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The construction of the Kisumu oil jetty was expected to safely transportation of petroleum product through Lake Victoria to the neighbouring countries giving the country a competitive edge in the region as the leading oil transporter.

However this may not come to pass after it has emerged that the Sh1.7 billion facility, launched by President Uhuru Kenyatta last year, has serious flaws, according to an experts’ report.

It singles out poor workmanship, lack of mandatory facilities like firefighting equipment, lack of provision for spillage and inappropriate equipment as the major problems.

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Meanwhile, reports indicate that Tanzania is preparing to use its Mwanza depot to compete with Kenya’s jetty.

What’s more shocking is that investigations by Nation into comparative costs have established that the Kisumu facility cost almost three times as much as similar facilities in Africa.

The Uganda jetty, including its storage tanks, cost about Sh600 million.

According to the report, taxpayers will have to release another Sh500 million to make the Kisumu oil jetty usable.

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After the completion of Uganda’s jetty in Port Bell, the country and its neighbours – Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo – can expect to be spared fuel shortages they sometimes experience, especially during periods of unrest in Kenya.

However, the jetty’s launch is dependent on the completion of the Kisumu facility.

While the Kisumu jetty was supposed to ease the transportation of fuel to Uganda and neighbouring countries by allowing ships to load fuel from Kisumu and transport it to the Ugandan jetty, this will have to wait because it is not clear when the jetty’s structural weaknesses will be rectified.

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