- Terminal 1E is reserved for international arrivals while 1B and 1C are used for international departures.
- The works begun in November last year and are being done under the supervision of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
Image: KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN/X
The government has attributed the recent leakage at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to the ongoing construction works at the facility.
According to Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen, the workers currently putting up the new arrival terminal tampered with some pipes resulting in the leakage.
The terminal is being built on top of Terminal 1C.
Murkomen, however, noted that the problem which lasted for only 30 minutes was fixed immediately and that the operations were not in any way affected as alleged.
"There is a massive construction going there and because of the ageing infrastructure, which includes pipes, got affected and that is why there was that leakage," he said during an interview.
The construction of the terminal, he said, is set to be operational in the next month ahead of the planned decommissioning of Terminal 1E.
Terminal 1E is reserved for international arrivals while 1B and 1C are used for international departures.
He added that once complete it will go a long way in addressing the perennial leakages at the Terminals.
The works began in November last year and are being done under the supervision of the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA).
At the same time, Murkomen has highlighted that they have put in place the necessary plans to transition to the next phase of greening JKIA.
This is in a bid to solve the power outages that have in the recent past paralyzed key services, the latest being that of Tuesday night.
He said they are planning to install solar power and even sell the excess to the national grid.
While defending himself over the recurrent blackouts, Murkomen said they have since made great strides with response time being reduced unlike the case before.
"I am not saying that we will not have a blackout of 10-20 minutes, it will happen. Those are small things that happen in any existing institution," he said in a TV interview.
JKIA, which is a crucial trade and transportation hub for goods and people across the country, the region, and the globe has had its reputation marred with frequent power outages.
During an inspection of the works Tuesday, the CS also revealed that the Cabinet has passed a recommendation to formulate a master plan for the drainage system within the Nairobi metropolis, which will be replicated nationwide and support water management for the next five decades.
He noted that blockages on the drainage system were to blamed for the flooding witnessed in some areas of the facility.
"Furthermore, as a long-term solution, the Ministry is working on constructing a new airport terminal through a public-private partnership (PPP) model," he said.
The CS was accompanied by KAA acting managing director Henry Ogoye and Engineering General Manager Meshack Ochieng.
He also toured the cargo side that was affected by flood waters from Mombasa Road and the Expressway.