Hopes high as key roadway improved

Chinese road-building expertise is helping to ease a major transportation bottleneck on a vital artery in Kenya

More than 20 kilometers of a section of the Nairobi-Mombasa Road - the A109 - is being built by China Railway 21st Bureau Group (Kenya) Co.

The aim of creating the second part of the Athi River-Machakos turnoff section is to provide extra lanes and free up traffic flow.

The company won the bid for the project in July last year. The foundation laying ceremony was held on Oct 20 and work officially started on March 8 this year. The 5.3 billion Kenyan shilling (about $53 million) project is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2018.

Currently, the road is a two-lane, two-way highway with traffic flow of around 60 vehicles per minute. When the project is complete, it will be a four-lane roadway with traffic flow of more than 150 vehicles per minute, says Sun Yingtuan, general manager of the company.

"The location of the project is crucial to transport as it is the only route from Mombasa to Nairobi and goods for hinterland countries in Africa need to go aong the road," Sun says. "We wish to give Chinese enterprises a good image by building a quality road, with careful planning and a good working relationship with the local government."

The Nairobi-Mombasa Road is a vital artery, not only for Kenya but also for other countries. Easing the bottleneck will be of great importance to them as well.

When it opens to traffic, the new section will be an A-class road, the country's highest level, Sun says.

For the project, the company has imported 110 pieces of machinery, including 30 transporters, seven digging machines, three bulldozers, three graders, three rollers, three sprinklers and two cranes. It has also brought in a concrete mixing plant, a stabilized soil mixing plant, an asphalt mixing plant and stone crushers. The company intends to buy or lease more equipment from Kenya if required.

It now employs 240 people from nearby Machakos County. That number will rise to between 400 and 500 as construction progresses, Sun says.

Local employees will be trained for two weeks. They will act as machinery operators, surveyors, steel benders, mold workers, concrete workers, management and liaison staff.

The 38 Chinese people working on the project are responsible for the management, technical instruction, supervision of construction progress and technological matters.

"We want to train local people to be capable of working in several roles in order to realize the localization of the workforce," Sun says.

Some local people engaged in management and engineering will have the chance to stay on with the company after the project is completed if their performance is outstanding.

The company is giving priority to employing local people and making the best use of local resources. It is buying cement and other materials locally in an effort to boost the local economy.

Because of its crucial location, the local government hopes the project can be completed ahead of schedule.

The area is quite dry, which is favorable for construction, so Sun is confident the project can be completed in good time.

"The work will be done appropriately and efficiently according to the construction schedule, assuring quality and safety of the various sections and structures," he says.

"We are committed to conducting the construction without harming the local environment or causing traffic jams on the existing road.

"We shall be strict in following the requirements of the contract and of Kenyan law and we promise to make the public and our employer satisfied."

panzhongming@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 05/26/2017 page27)