• The equipment includes three graders and seven road maintenance and inspection vehicles.
• They were procured through monies disbursed by Kenya Roads Board for the annual public roads programme for the financial year 2019/2020.
The Kenya Wildlife Service has acquired road construction equipment worth Sh140 million. https://bit.ly/3nBwCAY
The Kenya Wildlife Service has acquired road construction equipment worth Sh140 million.
The equipment includes three graders and seven road maintenance and inspection vehicles.
They were procured through monies disbursed by Kenya Roads Board for the annual public roads programme for the financial year 2019/2020.
The board allocates one per cent of the monies from the fund to KWS in respect of road maintenance in national parks and reserves.
Kenya Roads Board Director General Rashid Mohamed said they are committed to supporting the various roads agencies through its stipulated mandate of overseeing the road network in Kenya.
"In this financial year 2021/2022, KWS has been allocated Sh651,338,776 for maintenance of 2,448 kilometres of road network representing 53 per cent coverage of the entire KWS network. I am confident the funds will go a long way in maintaining and rehabilitating the road of the national park," Mohamed said.
The DG's speech was read on his behalf by board member John Nyaguti.
INSPECTION TOUR
Mohamed said his board and that of KWS had in November last year held a joint meeting and road inspection tour.
The tour was in Nairobi, Amboseli and Tsavo East and West National Parks.
It assessed the utilization of roads maintenance levy that the board administers to road agencies.
At that time, KWS was facing challenges in implementing road works due to inadequate capacity in terms of equipment and personnel.
Mohamed said the board had committed to supporting KWS to obtain equipment and supervision vehicles.
"Earlier this year, we posted two graduate engineers to KWS as part of the board's graduate engineers programme aimed at equipping young graduates with the necessary professional skills necessary for registration as professional engineers," he said.
Mohamed said all the backlog maintenance from the financial year 2019/2020 and 2020/2021 have been addressed and procurement for works for 2021/2022 is ongoing.
KWS Director-General John Waweru said the service is responsible for over 10,000km of the road network, out of which 2,450Km are regularly maintained under Kenya Roads Board funding, leaving 7,550Km to be maintained through internal capacity.
"Our partnership with KRB dates back to the financial year 2003/2004 when KWS received the first tranche of KES 60 Million, which has gradually grown to the present allocation of KES 651Million this FY," he said.
Waweru said the move has seen the length of our network under maintenance through the funding grow from approximately 904 Km to the current network of 2450 Km.
"When I joined KWS, there was a four-year backlog in spending the funds under KRB. Today, through a combined effort of KWS and KRB teams, the Service is up to date with expenditure and reporting," he said.
Waweru said the developments have shown that with teamwork and good leadership we are able to achieve more.
About eight per cent of Kenya’s landmass is a protected area for wildlife conservation.
Protected areas are gazetted landscapes/seascapes that have been surveyed, demarcated and gazetted either as National Parks and/or National Reserves.
In Kenya, Protected areas embrace various types of ecosystems namely: forests, wetlands, savannah, marine, arid and semi-arid.
The protected areas comprise 23 terrestrial National Parks, 28 terrestrial National Reserves, 4 marine National Parks, 6 marine National Reserves and 4 national sanctuaries.
In addition, KWS manages over a hundred field stations/ outposts outside the protected areas.
Edited by D Tarus