The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (Kura) has abandoned its sporadic patching of roads in favour of complete re-carpeting in a strategy that also ropes in the private sector in management of key infrastructure projects. The plan which is currently underway in Eastlands, involves handing over the roads to private firms for maintenance at an annual fee under the performance-based contracts.
Earlier this year, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed the agency to partner with the County Government of Nairobi to improve the city roads under the Nairobi Roads Regeneration Programme.
Kura Communication Officer, John Cheboi said the plan targets about 400 kilometers of roads within the capital which is cheaper compared to the traditional patching of potholes. According to Mr. Cheboi, the patching of potholes has strained the maintenance budget as every year, more vehicles are on the road.
“By re-carpeting and improving the drainage, we will have saved the costs of constant maintenance and even get the opportunity to assign a company to maintain the road at a lower fee since it is already in good shape. This year we have Sh2.7 billion set aside for this exercise with both the county government and the national government set to chip in to boost these efforts,” said Mr Cheboi.
The two firms, Faidi Limited and Bashku General Supplies were in charge of the maintenance of the Western ring roads, the Northern and Eastern Bypasses respectively. Both contracts have since elapsed and KURA re-advertised for firms to keep the regenerated roads in good shape. The firms were contracted at a total of Sh159 million for 18 months under the performance- based contracts that are assessed monthly.
Most of the roads in Nairobi were constructed years ago when there was less traffic. The number of cars on the road today is a huge maintenance headache for KURA with construction firms making millions by patching the potholes which keep recurring during the rainy season.
According to the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, many estate roads were put up by property developers to attract tenants and were therefore done below standard. The road agency is planning to reconstruct such roads and put them under contractual maintenance as well.
Property developers who had encroached on road reserves have also been targeted as KURA hopes to open up the missing links as it did recently the one running through Kibera slums.
The agency said that Naivasha Road which links Ngong Road to the Nairobi-Nakuru highway will be made into a dual carriage as more funds are sought to expand Ngong Road beyond Karen.
“There will be more traffic flow implication even though we have more vehicles joining our roads, but this strategy is meant to improve flow of vehicles and better roads within the city,” Mr Cheboi said.