The tarmacking of a key road in the newly created Malaba municipality in Busia county will continue despite protests from some residents.
Residents living along the road want the work stopped until they are compensated. They say earth movers destroyed their property and the county government has not come out clear on their demand for compensation.
But on Wednesday, Roads and Transport executive Okwara Ekirapa said residents whose property was affected by the projects are those who had encroached on the road reserve.
He said prior to the beginning of construction, public participation was conducted and residents living along the road were invited to give their views.
Okwara said the issue of compensation did not arise during the public participation meeting in October last year. All residents in attendance, the CEC said, approved the commencement of construction works.
He also said the county government sent engineers to mark all structures that had been earmarked for demolition and the exercise was done in consultation with the residents.
“Do they want the county government to come to their houses to issue letters notifying them of the structures to be demolished?” Okwara posed.
“We were there in December and all walls and buildings that were to be destroyed were marked. Didn’t they see yellow markings on their walls? This is March 2021 where have they been all this time?”
The road is about one-and-a-half kilometres. It is located in Amagoro town and links the busy Malaba-Bungoma highway to the road that connects Amagoro town to Angurai.
An association of landlords in Amagoro on Wednesday denied claims by Okwara that public participation had been conducted ahead of the project.
The association said as landlords, they were not aware of any public participation exercise that was conducted since no one among them attended. They now want the county government to compensate all landlords affected by the project.
“Can he (Okwara) tell us who among the landlords was invited for public participation. Our property has been destroyed and no one is talking about our compensation. We have made huge loses,” one landlord said.
When the Star toured the road on Wednesday, graders were levelling heaps of soil as construction works continued. Part of the project entails the tarmacking of a short stretch that connects the Malaba-Bungoma highway to Amagoro Primary School.
The project is part of the investments that the county government of Busia is rolling out as it develops Malaba municipality.
Malaba became Busia’s second municipality under the Urban Areas and Cities Act, 2011, on April 29 last year. Its elevation to its new status is projected to draw in resources from the county and national governments, as well as development partners.
It is expected to receive Sh100 million from the World Bank to spring up development.
Besides road upgrades, other projects expected to come with the border town’s elevation to a municipality level are the Kocholia Dam project that is financed by the Korean Exim Bank and the Angolol Dam project funded by the African Development Bank in partnership with Kenyan and Ugandan governments.
A sewerage project is also under implementation and is to be complete by July.
-Edited by Sarah Kanyara
