President praises speed of railway construction

Nairobi-to-Mombasa standard gauge line is more than half complete, Kenyatta says

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has lauded the China Road and Bridge Corp for its fast pace in building the standard gauge railway line from Nairobi to Mombasa. The line is the first phase of a project aimed at eventually linking Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi by rail.

Kenyatta made the remarks in a speech during national day celebrations at Nyayo National Stadium on Oct 20. Hero's Day commemorates those who fought for the country's independence from Britain, which it gained in December 1963.

"The standard-gauge railway project is 55 percent done," Kenyatta said. "We are extending to Naivasha (a town northwest of Nairobi) as a result of this good progress. Plans are also underway for the construction of an industrial park in Naivasha."

China Road and Bridge Corp and Kenya Railways Corp entered into an agreement last month under which the first phase of the project stretched by 120 kilometers to Naivasha town. The Kenyan government is investing 157 billion Kenyan shillings ($1.5 billion) in the extension work.

Designs for electric power to be used on the railway are complete, and two factories producing sleepers and beams a day have been set up in two places along the route. The first phase of the project is due to be completed in 2017.

Kenyatta also announced that a new container terminal in Mombasa will be ready by February. Van Oord Dredging and Marine Contractors of the Netherlands won the dredging tender, and China Road and Bridge Corp was contracted to build a new cargo berth at the port.

In May, the Kenya Ports Authority said work on the terminal was 85 percent complete and ahead of schedule.

Barely a week before Kenyatta made his speech, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda called on China's Export Import Bank to speed up the railway project. Aggrey Sabuni, an adviser to President Salva Kiir of South Sudan, joined them.

They instructed their finance ministers to jointly visit Exim bank officials to finalize details on financing the project.

This was during a summit of the Northern Corridor Integration Projects held in Nairobi, of which Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and South Sudan are members.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has just been accepted into the organization and will attend its next summit. The country is said to be interested in the standard-gauge railway project, wanting to be linked to other East African countries.

For China Daily