Nairobi County government is set to receive four fire engines from Japan.
Governor Evans Kidero signed The Grant Contract for “The Project for Reusing Secondhand Fire Engines in Nairobi City County” with Tatsushi Terada, the Ambassador of Japan to Kenya, at Nairobi City Hall on Wednesday.
The government of Japan has been providing funds to non-profit organisations such as self help groups, CBOs, NGOs, schools, medical institutions and county governments - through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP) since 1989.
The project received a grant amounting to Sh6.6 million to import three second hand fire engines with a pump and water tank and one second hand chemical fire engine from Japan to be used in Nairobi County.
Technical training for handling the imported fire engines will also be part of the project and the government of Japan will be sending experts to Kenya.
Kidero expressed his appreciation for the provision of the fire engines.
The governor revealed that the available number of fire engines in the county were not enough compared to the population.
Ambassador Terada congratulated the governor, adding that it is the first time for the government of Japan to import and provide secondhand fire engines to Kenya.
He referred to the two fires that took place in JKIA and in Kibera in 2013 and 2014 respectively and expressed his hope that the fire engines will be useful to the capital city, Nairobi.
The ambassador also mentioned that the Sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) will be held in Nairobi on August 27 and 28 and hoped to hand over the 4 fire engines before TICAD VI.