 |
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President
Uhuru Kenyatta with Cabinet Secretary
for
Transport and Infrastructure Engineer Michae
l
Kamau (third right) among other leaders during
the
launch of the standard gauge railway line at
Changamwe
Marshalling yard in Mombasa,
November
28, 2013. Photo|KEVIN ODIT
|
Thursday, November 28, 2013
By MWAKERA MWAJEFA and By PSCU
The
Mombasa-Nairobi railway will revolutionise long-distance travel and
haulage in the region by reducing the cost and time of moving goods and
people across East Africa.
During Thursday’s
ground-breaking ceremony for the new line, President Kenyatta allayed
fears that the project will isolate Tanzania.
Once the line is completed, transport costs in the East Africa region will reduce by more than 60 per cent.
“This
in turn will spur expanded production and reduce the cost of goods and
services. This dividend is the prize we seek for East Africa,” Mr
Kenyatta said.
The new line to connect Kenya, Uganda,
Rwanda and South Sudan is supported by presidents Yoweri Museveni
(Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Salva Kiir (South Sudan) at a cost of
Sh1.2 trillion.
Mr Kenyatta said that Tanzania, an
East African Community member, will be connected through a new line to
be built from Voi through Taveta on the Kenyan side.
Tanzania
had threatened to form a rival partnership with the DR Congo and
Burundi, although it has signalled its intention to remain within the
East Africa Community.
The railway line will have a
uniform design, which will permit seamless operation across the borders.
The width between the tracks will be 1.4 metres, compared to one metre
for the old line.
Training institutes
Training institutes
The
construction of the new line will also include upgrading and
modernisation railway training institutes in Nairobi, Kenya and Tororo,
Uganda, to provide local personnel for construction and operation of the
railways.
President Kenyatta, accompanied by Deputy
President William Ruto and other leaders from the Coast, described the
proposed railway masterplan as a “historic milestone”.
Although
presidents Museveni and Kagame had been expected to attend the
ceremony, they did not. However, President Kenyatta is expected to join
them for the East Africa Heads of State Summit in Kampala Saturday.
The
Sh1.2 trillion ($13.4 billion) project is part of efforts by the EAC
presidents to invest in critical infrastructure to enhance regional
trade and deepen integration.
It is estimated that the
railway will take five years to build and be completed by December 2018
through three phases — Mombasa to Nairobi, Nairobi to Malaba/Kisumu and
Malaba/Kisumu to Kampala.
The ground-breaking ceremony
followed Mr Kenyatta’s August visit to China, where he signed agreements
worth Sh425 billion ($4.8 billion) with China.
Some
Sh340 billion covered economic partnerships, wildlife protection and the
railway linking the port of Mombasa and the border town of Malaba.
Thursday,
President Kenyatta said the line would provide better market access to
goods from Kenya as well as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern
Democratic Republic of Congo and imports into that rich and fast-growing
hinterland.
The line will allow freight trains to reach speeds of 100kph while passenger trains will attain a high of 120kph.
Kenya
also plans to build the 1,400km Lamu-Lokichoggio rail and the
Nairobi-Moyale 700km railway line, which will link the country to Juba
in South Sudan as part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport
(Lapsset) corridor.
Other major regional railway projects in the pipeline are the Juba-Malaba railway and the Juba-Kampala corridors.
President Kenyatta said the railway line will speed up regional economic transformation by reducing transportation costs.
He
said that is why Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda signed a trilateral agreement
to speed up development of the high-speed railway linking Mombasa to
Kampala and onwards to Kigali.
Mr Kenyatta, who was
accompanied by First Lady Margaret, urged everyone involved to keep
their eyes on the finish line and the expected benefits instead of
politicising the project.
He termed as “misguided” rumours that the railway was meant to isolate Tanzania and undermine the East African Community.
“We
will launch the Voi-Taveta-Moshi road next month. We are also planning
to rehabilitate the Mombasa-Lunga Lunga Road to ease movement of people
between our two countries,” he said.
The launch marked
the start of the first phase of the project, comprising the
Mombasa-Nairobi segment that covers 500 kilometres.
Mr
Kenyatta disclosed that designs for the second phase, from Nairobi to
Malaba, with a branch line for Kisumu, was being developed.
He
said South Sudan President Salva Kiir had also given assurance that his
government would join the railway project, extending it to Juba.
“This
is the reason why we must view the substantial investment in the
railway as a worthy investment to underpin the regional economic agenda.
An economy only ever thrives on the foundation of proper
infrastructure,” he said.
Acknowledging the importance
of the road network, the President said Kenya will continue to invest in
the development of roads. He said the existing single metre gauge
railway will also be retained and maintained as it will provide
additional capacity in the Northern Corridor.
“This
will offer the business community greater choice in transport, and
create the competition required to keep the sector vibrant and
cost-efficient,” he said.
As East Africa embarks on an
irreversible journey to full integration, the President said, Kenya
recognises its position as a gateway to the region and was implementing
modern seamless transport systems to make East Africa a competitive
investment destination.
He affirmed the government’s
determination to ease transport costs from the port of Mombasa and,
later, from Lamu, to all East African destinations.
“We
want the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Republic of South
Sudan, the Republic of Uganda, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of
Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the United Republic of
Tanzania to partake fully in the benefits arising from our natural
vantage point,” the President said.
Kenya’s active
involvement in infrastructure initiatives, Mr Kenyatta said, is driven
by the fact that a growing East African economy will increase the volume
of business at the ports.
He observed that Mombasa
port operations were being reorganised to improve the turn-around time
for ships and already that time has been reduced from 11 to six days.
Deputy
President William Ruto said the launch was an important step towards
fulfilling the Jubilee coalition’s pledge of a faster transport system
that will grow the economy by double digits.
“This project will provide the single critical platform that will re-engineer our economy,” Mr Ruto said.
He said the railway will also reduce road accidents as it will decrease congestion on the roads.
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