•There are no public utilities such as toilets to serve the personnel from the parked and delayed trailers.
•The congestion has also had social consequences on the families living near the border, with cases of single parent families, early pregnancies and spread of HIV/Aids in the area on the rise.
Image: EMOJONG OSERE
The lack of electronic scanners to fast track clearance of trucks, and the poor road infrastructure, are causing huge snarl ups at the busy Malaba border post.
The congestion has also had social consequences with cases of single parent families, early pregnancies and spread of HIV/Aid in the area on the rise.
A parliamentary committee report reveals that the slow clearance of the commercial trailers is delaying business and costing the government millions of shillings in revenue.
“The border point normally experiences long queues of trucks to the tune of 20 to 30kms, which led to delays in business, denied government revenue and poses socio-economic risks to the local residents,” reads the report.
Further, the report notes, there are no public utilities such as toilets to serve the personnel from the parked and delayed trailers.
The report by the Senate Roads and Transport Committee said the situation has been compounded by poor road infrastructure leading to and around the border and lack of security despite the heavy congestion.
Further, the report by the Senator Kimani Wamatangi-led committee indicates that the stalled construction of the Sh622 million One Stop Border Point complex has worsened matters.
“The matter of congestion and gridlock could affect regional countries that are dependent on Kenya as a gateway to the region and could render even SGR and other infrastructure investments irrelevant,” it states.
The project, which was initiated in 2012, stalled in 2015 for lack of money to complete it.
World Bank, which co-funded the project with the government, pulled out in 2015 leaving the project that had gobbled up Sh496 million in limbo.
Kenya National Highways Authority, which implemented the projects, terminated the contract due to lack of finance.
“The project was henceforth faced with challenges in budgeting and payments and as a result, the contractor could not finish some of the works,” the report reads in part.
The termination, Kenha explained, was to avoid any anticipated contractual claims from the contractor due to default by the authority to pay for the work done.
The complex comprised immigration office block, verification shade, warehouse and cold rooms, restaurant, generator and transformer house.
Ablution block, sniffer dog kennels, incinerator and underground water tanks formed part of the scope of the project.
The committee visited the report following a petition by Bungoma Senator Moses Wetangula who sought the Senate interventions on the problems at post.
Malaba border point clears about 1,100 tracks per day, generating about Sh250 million per month in revenue. This makes it one of the busiest boarder point along the northern corridor.
“Whereas the border post was a leading revenue earner to the exchequer, there was not a single CSR project for the community and the residents of Malaba," the committee said.
The committee recommended to the Ministry of Transport to fast track the improvement of infrastructure near the post to reduced traffic jams.
It also wants the ministry to engage a contractor to complete the stalled OSBP within four months.
“The Ministry of Transport should with immediate effect make provisions for extra lay by lane of at least 20 kms to accommodate any flow of inbound tracks an also to provide for an open lane for other road users,” the panel recommended.