The Cabinet yesterday approved Sh6.9 billion for the development of an Inland Container Depot (ICD) in Naivasha.
The approval breathes life into a controversial project that has seen Kenya donate land to Uganda and South Sudan as it moves to woo some of its landlocked neighbours to use its trade routes. It is also set to boost the operations of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
Other than the depot, the Cabinet noted that the money would be used to develop a railway marshalling yard – a place where cargo trains will be received, sorted and dispatched; a logistics zone and a public utility area.
The move is meant to decongest the Port of Mombasa.
The second phase (Phase 2A) of the SGR from Nairobi to Naivasha is also set to benefit from the funds.
Phase 2A has been allocated Sh55.8 billion in the current financial year. This will be the fourth dry port besides the ones in Eldoret, Nairobi’s Embakasi and Kisumu.
It was not immediately clear when the money would be appropriated. A search through the budget estimates for the 2019/20 financial year did not return anything, meaning the money has not been budgeted for yet.
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Calls and text messages to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure James Macharia went unanswered.
It is possible that the Government might either do a supplementary budget, introducing this spending item or have it in the next budget.
This comes at a time when there have been complaints that the dry port in Nairobi has been snatching jobs from Mombasa, especially after the Government compelled importers to use the SGR to evacuate their goods from the port of Mombasa.
The development of the port of Mombasa has been allocated Sh7.2 billion, while the SGR from Nairobi to Naivasha is set to receive Sh55.8 billion from the Chinese Government.
Kenya granted South Sudan a 10-acre piece of land in Naivasha to build a dry port in a bid to ease the movement of goods and boost trade between the two countries. Kenya will also offer Uganda land to build a dry port for its cargo in Naivasha as part of the joint SGR project between the two countries.
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