Nyendo
JF-Expert Member
- Jun 4, 2017
- 1,191
- 4,103
Kukamilika kwa mradi wa wa BRT, Usafiri wa Haraka wa Mabasi Nairobi kunacheleshwa na kutosekana kwa ufhadhili.
Mfumo wa BRT ulitazamiwa kutoa suluhisho la kudumu la msongamano wa magari katika jiji na viunga vyake, ahadi ya njia salama, bora na ya bei nafuu ya usafiri wa umma ambayo bado haijatimizwa tangu kuanza kwa mradi huo.
Barabara kuu ya Thika ilitambuliwa kuwa mradi wa majaribio. Ilikuwa imeratibiwa kwa laini ya kilomita 27 ya Hospitali ya Kitaifa ya Kasarani-Kenyatta ipatikane kwa umma mnamo Juni 2022 lakini kulingana na Mhandisi Francis Gitau, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Mamlaka ya Usafiri ya Eneo la Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Wakenya sasa watalazimika kusubiri hadi Juni. 2023 kutokana na ucheleweshaji unaosababishwa na ugumu wa ufadhili
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The completion of the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transport system is experiencing delays due to funding difficulties.
The BRT System was envisioned to offer a lasting solution to the traffic jam menace in the city and its environs, a promise of a safe, efficient and affordable mode of public transport which is yet to be fulfilled since the commencement of the project.
Thika Superhighway was identified as the pilot project. It was scheduled for the 27-kilometer Kasarani-Kenyatta National Hospital line to be made available to the general public in June 2022 but according to Engineer Francis Gitau, the Director General of Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, Kenyans will now have to wait until June 2023 due to delays caused by funding difficulties.
He says treasury is yet to release the additional Ksh.3 billion needed to complete the Ksh.5.6 billion project which was scheduled to begin operations in June 2022.
"Our wish as NAMATA was to promise another 6 months because if the resources are available it can be done in 6 months but the contractor has looked at our resource planning, if it is only a certain amount of money that is available this is the much I can do and I think we have been in agreement that the worst case scenario should be 9 months. We hope our people will continue to be patient," Gitau told Citizen TV.
Engineer Gitau also says that the procurement of the first batch of 100 high-capacity BRT buses is yet to happen but is at an advanced stage.
"We received very powerful bids, we had four bids. It is still a procurement process you know administratively there are clearances that are administrative in government," he said.
The BRT System is part of the government’s vision to implement a Mass Rapid Transport System whose intent is to provide an environmentally friendly, reliable, accessible and affordable public transport system
"In the city if you look at our commuter rail services going into Embakasi costs about Ksh.40 if it is a short distance coming from Ruiru going into the city it is distance based it may cost as low as Ksh.30 bob depending on the distance, our fare policy we believe should be distance based," he said.
Stakeholders are however concerned that due to the lack of a competitive advantage they risk being pushed out of business once the project is rolled out.
It is for this reason that NAMATA together with other players has worked out a plan to include the affected operators in the transition process.
"We have an instrument that creates a company structure that ensures the transition is peaceful it does disadvantage anybody it brings a discussed agreed equity so that we do not have people who are disenfranchised noting that the private sector has been working in this space for 40 years," said Eng. Gitau.
He also called on the Kenya kwanza Administration to fast track the efforts to implement the project which he says will be a game changer in the Public Transport System.
Mfumo wa BRT ulitazamiwa kutoa suluhisho la kudumu la msongamano wa magari katika jiji na viunga vyake, ahadi ya njia salama, bora na ya bei nafuu ya usafiri wa umma ambayo bado haijatimizwa tangu kuanza kwa mradi huo.
Barabara kuu ya Thika ilitambuliwa kuwa mradi wa majaribio. Ilikuwa imeratibiwa kwa laini ya kilomita 27 ya Hospitali ya Kitaifa ya Kasarani-Kenyatta ipatikane kwa umma mnamo Juni 2022 lakini kulingana na Mhandisi Francis Gitau, Mkurugenzi Mkuu wa Mamlaka ya Usafiri ya Eneo la Nairobi Metropolitan Area, Wakenya sasa watalazimika kusubiri hadi Juni. 2023 kutokana na ucheleweshaji unaosababishwa na ugumu wa ufadhili
======
The completion of the Nairobi Bus Rapid Transport system is experiencing delays due to funding difficulties.
The BRT System was envisioned to offer a lasting solution to the traffic jam menace in the city and its environs, a promise of a safe, efficient and affordable mode of public transport which is yet to be fulfilled since the commencement of the project.
Thika Superhighway was identified as the pilot project. It was scheduled for the 27-kilometer Kasarani-Kenyatta National Hospital line to be made available to the general public in June 2022 but according to Engineer Francis Gitau, the Director General of Nairobi Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, Kenyans will now have to wait until June 2023 due to delays caused by funding difficulties.
He says treasury is yet to release the additional Ksh.3 billion needed to complete the Ksh.5.6 billion project which was scheduled to begin operations in June 2022.
"Our wish as NAMATA was to promise another 6 months because if the resources are available it can be done in 6 months but the contractor has looked at our resource planning, if it is only a certain amount of money that is available this is the much I can do and I think we have been in agreement that the worst case scenario should be 9 months. We hope our people will continue to be patient," Gitau told Citizen TV.
Engineer Gitau also says that the procurement of the first batch of 100 high-capacity BRT buses is yet to happen but is at an advanced stage.
"We received very powerful bids, we had four bids. It is still a procurement process you know administratively there are clearances that are administrative in government," he said.
The BRT System is part of the government’s vision to implement a Mass Rapid Transport System whose intent is to provide an environmentally friendly, reliable, accessible and affordable public transport system
"In the city if you look at our commuter rail services going into Embakasi costs about Ksh.40 if it is a short distance coming from Ruiru going into the city it is distance based it may cost as low as Ksh.30 bob depending on the distance, our fare policy we believe should be distance based," he said.
Stakeholders are however concerned that due to the lack of a competitive advantage they risk being pushed out of business once the project is rolled out.
It is for this reason that NAMATA together with other players has worked out a plan to include the affected operators in the transition process.
"We have an instrument that creates a company structure that ensures the transition is peaceful it does disadvantage anybody it brings a discussed agreed equity so that we do not have people who are disenfranchised noting that the private sector has been working in this space for 40 years," said Eng. Gitau.
He also called on the Kenya kwanza Administration to fast track the efforts to implement the project which he says will be a game changer in the Public Transport System.
