Abubakar Mohamed, the chairperson for the Garissa Juakali Federation, speaking to the press/HANDOUT
Garissa Jua Kali artisans have expressed optimism that the affordable housing project will uplift their lives.
They said the project will allow them to uplift their livelihoods and improve their businesses.
Abubakar Mohamed, chairperson for the
Garissa Juakali Federation, said they have never had such opportunities of high
value before, promising to maximise on them.
He spoke during an onboarding meeting.
The meeting brought together government officials,
members of the jua kali sector, SMEs and Housing Department officials and contractors.
“Today, we are very happy and delighted because we have
been accorded an opportunity that we have never witnessed before. We have been
given a chance to do all these constructions. We have never had this kind of
chance,” Mohamed said.
He said jua kali artisans work under tough conditions and are sometimes looked down upon.
“In our midst, we have people with the required skills and
knowledge to deliver top-quality work. Our people do a lot of hard work and
with minimal tools because our
purchasing power is low. This chance will help us uplift ourselves, equip our workshops and produce quality products of
international standards,” Mohamed said.
The
projects include construction of 408 housing units, which is about 40
per cent complete, building of 1,720-bed capacity hostels at Garissa
University and construction of a modern market for Sh 288 million.
Karanja said the contractors have an obligation
to cascade the works to all the levels, which include sourcing of materials
from local artisans.
“In the affordable housing projects, we have 75 ring-fenced items, which include windows, steel doors, flash doors, landscaping
works and painting works among others for the jua kali sector,”
he said.
“We came here to onboard jua kali artisans into these works. It is a mutual understanding between the
contractor and the juakali but more importantly is that the government is very
deliberate that an item that has been earmarked for an artisan, must be
undertaken by them."
Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohamed urged the youth, especially plumbers electricians, welders and painters to take up the jobs
opportunities to better their lives.
He thanked President William Ruto for giving out
a direction requiring local artisans to be given opportunities to supply
some materials for the housing projects, noting that it will not only provide
job opportunities but also grow the local economy.
“I want to thank the President because this is the first affordable housing programe
that has happened in this Town since independence. I want to encourage the jua kali guys to be
prepared to fully maximise this opportunity,” the MP said.
“It is for them to grab them. Within this year, we will increase about 3,000 housing units for construction. So you can imagine the economic benefit that this will bring to us."
