Move meant to address traffic snarl-up
The government has moved in to address the issue of commuter movement in Nairobi by acquiring four locomotive engines to be used by Kenya Railways.
This will see hourly commuter services introduced in four routes around the capital city that are currently served by railway
According to Secretary in the Ministry Housing and Urban metropolitan Engineer Benjamin Njenga, four engines had already been procured from Spain.
He identified the routes that would benefit from the multi-million project as Ruiru, Embakassi, Athi River and Kikuyu to Nairobi.
“We have over 200kms of railway line in Nairobi which is not well utilized and the hourly commuters trains will come in handy,”
“The four routes will in the coming month benefit from hourly train services to the capital city and this will also help address the issue of congestion,” he said.
Njenga at the same time said that the affordable housing project was on course with 228 units of the houses ready in Park Road Nairobi.
He was optimistic that the State would meet its target of 500,000 affordable houses in the country by 2022 as more Kenyans joined the programme.
“Under the Parkland road scheme, we are targeting 2,000 units whose construction is ongoing as demand for houses continue to rise,” he said.
Njenga was addressing the press in Enashipai Resort Naivasha after a meeting with World Bank, Japan government officials and representatives from eight counties.
He termed waste management as the major challenge urban centers in the country were facing with 4m tonnes churned out every year.
The senior government officer noted that Nairobi was producing 3,000 tonnes of waste every day with half of that collected while the rest ended up in drainages and water bodies.
“Of all the waste collected in the country, only half of it is managed or collected while the other is left in the streets and there is urgent need for a law to address this,” he said.
The CEC for Land and Housing in Kajiado Hamilton Parseina identified Ngong and Kitengela as the most affected towns in terms of waste management in the county.
“We have mountains of garbage in our county mainly ferried from Nairobi but we are committed to addressing this issue by working with partners to collect and manage this waste,” he said.
Ends.