The transport industry is among sectors Busia county is targeting to tap into as Governor Paul Otuoma’s administration seeks to widen its tax base.
According to the governor, one of the areas he intends to invest in as he begins to restructure the county to boost service delivery is local revenue collection, especially in the cargo sector.
Boosting locally collected income, Otuoma said, would in the long-run limit over-reliance on external funding for development.
This, the county chief said, will be done through the completion of trailer parks in Busia and Malaba towns.
Approximately 1,000 cargo trucks pass through the Malaba One Stop Border Post each day, while the one in Busia handles an average of 600 trucks.
The trucks, the governor said, provide an avenue through which Busia can generate revenue locally. He, however, said parking zones must be in place to facilitate the revenue collection process.
Otuoma said the county would strive to seal revenue leakages in the next five years to maximise on the advantage that Busia enjoys to generate money to support local development.
“Under international law it has been agreed that the county must be able to provide parking space before they can be able to collect anything. Without that, that is just revenue lost,” the governor said during a pressing briefing.
During his swearing-in ceremony at Busia Stadium two weeks ago, the Otuoma said his administration would ensure modern trailer parks are built in Busia and Malaba to enable the county tap into the cargo sector to maximise on revenue collection.
“We will complete and equip the trailer parks in Mundika and Malaba to decongest the two border towns within our county,”he said.
“Going forward, Busia being the gateway, we shall engage national government to establish a dry port at Nasewa and Malaba town to provide logistical services to landing goods that are on transit to East and Central Africa Africa.”
For the county to be able to initiate development projects beneficial to residents and subsequently lower poverty levels, the governor said there was need by county employees “to rethink because we are spending our efforts on things that are not adding value to the people of Busia.”
(edited by Amol Awuor)
