Kenya National Highway Authority project coordinator David Cherono said the government will pay Sh4 billion to all families once compensation issues are sorted out.
“The project is back on and we are now working in areas where the compensation issues have been sorted out," Cherono said when he led an inspection team.
However, he admitted that there were still several pending cases on land earmarked for the project but they were being sorted out.
The project is to be completed in August this year but heavy rains and compensation disputes may delay the project.
The by-pass to ease congestion in Eldoret's CBD will run from Cheplaskei along the Eldoret Nakuru Highway. A deviation will pass through areas near the Eldoret Airport and rejoin the Eldoret-Webuye road at Leseru.
Heavy commercial vehicles and long-distance lorries heading to Uganda and elsewhere in the Great Lakes region will be diverted to use the bypass.
The project has three inter-changes. Cherono says the last inter-change at Leseru is on land belonging to the Kenya Defense Forces and no individual had been compensated.
Landowners had complained about delayed compensation but Cherono said the delay resulted from land disputes.
“Once issues to do with land ownership and other matters are sorted, the money is available to be paid out immediately," he said.
The Sh5.6 billion project is being financed by the African Development Bank.
(Edited by V. Graham)
