President Uhuru Kenyatta Wednesday officially launched the European Union supported Rural Roads Rehabilitation Project which will open up the agricultural potential of five counties.
The President and the EU Ambassador to Kenya, Stefano Dejak launched the project in Nunguni, Makueni, where the Katua – Kee – Nunguni Road Project phase is underway.
The Rural Roads Rehabilitation Project is co-funded by the EU and the government.Through the project, 101 kilometres of rural roads in Embu, Tharaka Nithi, Meru, Machakos and Makueni will be upgraded to tarmac using Low Volume Sealed Road (LVSR) technology.
The total project cost is EUR 20 million (Sh2 billion), of whichEUR14.8 million (Sh1.4 billion) are financed by the EU and EUR 6 million (Sh600 Million) by the Kenyan Government.
The EU Ambassador said the roads selected based on the agricultural production of the areas will help improve Kenyan livelihoods and spread sustainable prosperity.
“The importance of rural roads especially in agriculture, Kenya’s mainstay, cannot be underscored enough. Rural roads form the bulk of the road network and interconnect vital sectors of the economy within and outside the rural areas, facilitating social exchange and mobility and linking rural areas to higher class roads,” Dejak said.
Dejak added that the EU and its Member States have been working alongside Kenya to improve the rural road network in the country. Specific support provided by the EU includes the rehabilitation of more than 1,000 km of rural roads in tea and coffee production area as well as the upgrading of about 100km of rural road in eastern Kenya to low volume sealed road standards (LVSR).
The roads have a link in each of the five counties in Eastern Kenya.
The “Rural roads rehabilitation project” supports the Kenyan Government’s efforts to improve rural transport infrastructure through the Roads 2000 Maintenance Strategy, which is a key component of the economic recovery effort described in the national policy “Vision 2030”. This programme enables improvement of agricultural production by upgrading the rural roads network. The project is managed by Kenya Rural Road Authority (KeRRA).
Works started in October 2015 and are scheduled to be achieved by 2018.