MOMBASA, Kenya – {{The East African Standard Gauge Railway is not over-priced, Uganda\u2019s Minister for Works and Transport, John Byabagambi said recently in first public comments addressing concerns over the cost of the region\u2019s largest infrastructure project}}<\/p>\n
The project which involves Kenya, Rwanda, Southern Sudan and Uganda in the Northern Corridor Infrastructure Initiative is reasonably priced, Byabagambi told reporters after inspecting Kenya\u2019s section of the railway under construction at Mtito Andei, 235 kilometres from Mombasa in Kenya\u2019s Taita Taveta and Makueni Counties.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to consider a lot of factors. From Mombasa to Nairobi it\u2019s relatively flat but the section from Nairobi to Malaba will encounter the rift valley so there will be tunneling,\u201d he said in response to questions. <\/p>\n
He said, \u201cOnce you cross over to Uganda, you start meeting lakes and rivers. You have to pass Lake Victoria, River Mpologoma and River Nile as well as swamps. The cost on the Ugandan side is just more by about $100mn compared to Kenya.\u201d<\/p>\n
Byabagambi, who chairs the Standard Gauge Railway Joint Ministerial Committee of the four countries, said comparison with other countries found the region was getting a \u201cClass A\u201d railway line at a fair price.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have benchmarked on prices. We travelled to China, India and Ethiopia as a cluster to benchmark on prices and we found that we have got the reasonable price for a \u2018Class A\u2019 standard Gauge Railway,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He said there had been a debate within the committee on whether to adopt \u2018Class B\u2019 at a cheaper price or the even cheaper \u201cClass C\u201d but \u201cClass A\u201d was selected for safety reasons.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe saw in Ethiopia that they started with Class C but realized it was not good for them at a cost of $1.2 per kilometre. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey went to Class B for $4.2 per kilometer but they have eventually resolved to build Class A which is $6mn per kilometer,\u201d Byabagambi said.<\/p>\n
Kenya is spending $4bn on the first phase from Mombasa to Nairobi, which will be extended to Malaba on the Ugandan border after that. Uganda will spend $8 billion on its section, which will connect to Rwanda and Southern Sudan.<\/p>\n
Byabagambi commended work done by contractors, China Road and Bridge Corporation in Kenya saying the work it\u2019s truly encouraging.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have learnt many lessons from Kenya and their experience makes our work easy especially on land acquisition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Kenya\u2019s acting Cabinet Secretary for Transport James Macharia dismissed reports of cracks in bridge pillars as had been reported in sections of Kenyan press.<\/p>\n
{{Source: Business Week}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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