Mike Mwaniki
9 November 2009
Nairobi — Kenya's economy is losing about Sh29 billion annually due to traffic congestion in the Nairobi metropolitan region, Cabinet minister Robinson Githae said on Monday.
Motorists were losing the money on increased fuel consumption, lost opportunities due to the time spent on the jams while cases of environmental degradation were also increased.
Speaking during the observance of the World Town Planning Day celebrations marked yesterday, Mr Githae said although the "Michuki rules" were meant to improve road safety, some of the rules had also adversely impacted negatively on the mobility and accessibility of the Central Business District by matatus, buses and other public transportation.
In a speech read by Permanent Secretary Philip Sika, the minister said: "The rules forbid passengers to stand while transiting in public service vehicles while also requiring them to fasten their seat belts while seated in transit.
"This has the net effect of increasing the passenger embarking and disembarking time as well as reducing the number of passengers transiting in high capacity vehicles within the CBD," Mr Githae added.
The Nairobi Metropolitan region ministry is holding consultations with their counterparts in the Transport ministry in a bid to amend this rules.
"We are proposing that buses and other public service vehicles with a high capacity be allowed to carry standing passengers...
"And in a bid to maintain the requisite safety standards, they should be fitted with wide entry/exit doors as approved by the Kenya Bureau of Standards," Mr Githae.
The minister said this during a speech read at the Pan Afric Hotel in Nairobi.
Earlier, the Architectural Association of Kenya chairman Steven Oundo said his organisation wanted the establishment of a building audit committee to address the challenges facing the building industry.
"The committee should be mandated to audit all buildings--both occupied and those under construction-- following increased cases of collapsed buildings in the industry.
"The committee should be funded by a levy on building construction which may be established under a Miscellaneous Bill," Mr Oundo added.
At the same time, the official urged the Government to consider allocating additional funding to the 175 local authorities countywide to enable their planning departments to become fully fledged with adequate facilities to carry out their mandate.
"Even as we deliberate on ways to strengthen planning functions in our Local Authorities, we must not forget to urgently address the challenge posed by quacks in the industry."
Mr Oundo said their was need to seal all loopholes in the systems that enables quacks to thrive in the construction industry.
"The imposition of single business permits by local authorities, for example, creates an opportunity for anybody regardless of their professional background to acquire a permit from a local authority to practice as a professional," Mr Oundo observed.
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