The government has directed contractors working on multi-billion-shilling critical infrastructure components of the Galana Kulalu Food Security Project to fast-track their work for the successful rollout of the government’s food security initiative.
Officials from the Government Delivery Unit (GDU) and the Coast Regional National Government Development Implementation, Coordination and Management Committee (NGD-RICMC) noted that several projects were lagging behind schedule and urged contractors to accelerate completion.
Particular concern was raised over the Sh2.9 billion Galana Kulalu Electrification project, which is significantly delayed. The contractor was instructed to expedite works, with a stern warning that no further extensions of the contract would be granted.
Led by Coast Regional Commissioner Rhoda Onyancha and Head, Government Delivery Unit (GDU) Sitati Olando, the inspection team toured key projects including the Sh1.49 billion Galana Bridge, the electrification project, the Sh2.3 billion Baricho Bridge, and the Sh650 million Baricho Water Works Solarisation Project.
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Despite the delays, the team expressed satisfaction with the overall progress and optimism that work on the key enabler projects would be completed soon, enabling investors and other stakeholders to work with ease in realizing the full potential of the irrigation venture.
“Overall, we are happy with what we have seen today. We have agreed on the way forward regarding the bottlenecks we witnessed, and I am confident that when we return in two months, the projects will be much further along and nearing completion,” Ms. Onyancha told journalists after the tour.
Fast-tracking Galana Kulalu projects
The Head of the Government Delivery Unit, Mr. Sitati Olando, asked state agencies involved in the project to collaborate with the regional and county commissioners to advance the project.
He, however, told contractors to expedite their work, warning that the government would not extend their contracts.
“For those contractors who are not diligent, we continue to remind them that we shall continue pressuring the government agencies to push them to complete their works or lose their contracts,” he said.
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He said the government had identified investors who would start projects towards the Tana River side of the project.
“This project started in Kilifi County, but we have identified investors who will open up at least 100,000 acres towards the Tana River side,” Mr. Olando said.
Mr. Masini Ichuara, the Director General for Economic Planning, said there was a need to move from outputs to outcomes in the implementation of the food security project as the government implements Vision 2030 and the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda of the current regime.
Also present during the tour were senior officials from the Kenya Power and Lighting Company, the Kenya Rural Roads Authority, the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Corporation, the National Irrigation Authority, and representatives of private investors working under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
