Transporters count losses over poor state of roads

Stakeholders in the transport sector have decried the poor state of roads saying it has hampered the growth of the economy.

Kenya Association of Manufacturers chairperson Florah Mutahi said the sorry state of key roads had affected movement of industrial input and manufactured goods.

“Most of the roads in industrial areas have been neglected for quite some time. At least 70 per cent of our industries are in Nairobi and its environs," said Ms Mutahi.

"For these industries to effectively contribute to our country’s GDP, there is need for a robust transport network,” she said, adding that some key roads were in a terrible state because of heavy rains and the resultant flooding.

Speaking during the second International Transport and Road Research Conference at Whitesands Resort in Mombasa, Ms Mutahi said manufacturing is expected to contribute 15 per cent of the country’s GDP by 2022, up from the 8.6 per cent, but this will not be realised if the roads networks is not properly managed.

“It is sad to note that 32 per cent of production costs in the manufacturing sector go to transport. Road transport comes into play in the supply chain, which should be seamless to create an enabling environment for growth of manufacturing,” she said.

She added that infrastructure development has a significant effect on other sectors of the economy.

Kenya Roads Board (KRB) chairperson Rita Kavashe said the transport sector contributed five per cent of GDP last year but the contribution was declining.

She said the country faces an acute transport deficit.

“Transport demand is growing faster than the supply of infrastructure. For example, registration of new vehicles is over 200,000 annually while the construction or rehabilitation existing roads is around 1,300km, representing one per of the existing 161,000km,” said Ms Kavashe.

She said KRB was working to strengthen road asset management practices by agencies. "We will ensure maintenance of roads is prioritised over rehabilitation and new development. In this connection, KRB undertook a countrywide road inventory and condition survey in order to identify the maintainable road network. The results of the survey will be launched soon,” she said.

Transport Chief Administrative Secretary Chris Obure said maintenance of roads was among major concerns that the government was addressing.

READ: Constituencies allocated Sh8.7bn for roads repair

He said a lot of research had been done on the issue and findings disseminated for follow up.

“Therefore the findings do not become useful in the work of developing and maintaining our roads and that is the essence of our convergence here, where we will try and find out how best we can coordinate among ourselves and use the research to improve and enhance the quality of our road networks,” said Mr Obure.

The stakeholders in the transport sector resolved to identify alternative sources of funding to address the roads deficit issue. They resolved to enhance the funding of road and transport research. They agreed to establish a multi-agency team for transport and roads research for linkages between policy makers, industry and the academia. "The committee will develop the country’s research agenda for transport. Among the priorities will be research on alternative road construction materials and establishment of a transport and road research base to enhance knowledge management, dissemination and uptake of research in the region, " said KRB Planning Manager Margaret Ogai. She said they will also lobby for enactment of the Kenya Roads Bill to clarify funding and management of roads among national and county government agencies. This would help in the repair of roads, she said.