The Government is committed to completing the ongoing key infrastructural development projects in Western Kenya.
Western Regional Commissioner, Macharia Irungu said so far there is steady progress in a number of flagship projects being undertaken in the region ranging from roads, housing, agricultural enhancement and last mile connectivity, among other programmes.
The RC, who led a three-day multi-agency team drawn from the Executive Office of the President (EOP), Government Delivery Unit (GDU), and technical officers from various implementing agencies in Kakamega, Vihiga, Busia and Bungoma counties, said the verification visits are key to unlocking some teething challenges facing some of the projects.
In Busia, the team toured, among other projects, the County Aggregation and Industrial Park at Nasewa in Matayos sub country. The project, whose cost is 500 million shillings, is 85 percent complete and includes godowns, cold storage facilities and value addition units.
The team also visited the Nasewa Export Processing Zone (EPZ) which is 80 percent complete and focuses on textile, edible oil and agricultural value addition and aims to create thousands of jobs in the western Kenya.
The government is also implementing a 2,000 unit affordable housing program at Nasewa and construction of student’s hostels at Alupe University among other housing projects in the county.
In Vihiga County, the national government is currently undertaking infrastructure upgrades with construction of several multi-storey markets including Mbale (350 million shillings) and Luanda (365 m shillings).
In Sabatia constituency, the team also toured the Sabatia and Vocational College (TVC), where a new 340-bed hostel and the Kenta Medical Training College (KMTC) at Mbihi.
In Bungoma County, the County Aggregation and Industrial Park (CAIP) is almost complete, with remaining works expected to be undertaken in the next two months.
Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation (REREC) is also implementing multiple rural electrification projects cutting across all the constituencies in the county.
Under this financial year, the county has received a total of 296 million shillings under the programme, with 3,051 families connected in Sirisia
During the verification visit, the team visited 25 of the ongoing projects, with the regional commissioner asking lead agencies to ensure timelines that have been agreed upon are implemented to ensure their successful completion.
The GDU regional lead, Onguso Ochiengo emphasized a whol-governmentt approach in ensuring all projects are implemented for timely delivery to support the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
By George Kaiga
