Cost comparison SGR Kenya vs SGR Tanzania

Kwa wale ambao walikua wanapinga Kenya haipati mafunzo yoyote na haina mipango ya kujitegemea kujenga,rekebisha,maintain SGR miaka ya kesho ... Kwasasa Kuna wanafunzi Zaidi ya 100 wanasomea degree,masters huko china


Kenya’s plan to bridge the skills gap in the rapidly evolving railway sector is slowly gaining steam as more students take-up China-funded scholarships to study courses related to the mode of transport.

The launch of operations on the 480-kilometre Nairobi-Mombasa standard gauge railway (SGR) last year has necessitated the need to train more personnel to continue sustainably after the foreign contractors depart.

Also, technology transfer is one of the critical elements of the deals signed by Kenya and the Chinese based companies building major infrastructural projects in the country including SGR Phase 2A from Nairobi to Naivasha.

Last week, the third batch of 40 Kenyan youth left for China’s Jiatong University to study under the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) scholarship.

The first group of 25 Kenyans took up the course in 2016 and another 35 last year.

They are studying among other courses, traffic and transportation management, telecommunications control engineering, locomotive and rolling stock engineering and signalling engineering.

According to Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia, more partnerships by the government are on course including the Sh1 billion construction and equipping of a business school at the Railways Training Institute.

Flagship projects

The government intends to make the institution the main SGR technology training in the region and under its expanded mandate, it will be reformed into a rail training under the Northern Corridor Intregration projects for different cadres of qualified personnel to key flagship infrastructure projects.

Mr Macharia said capacity building is a priority for government in realising the four economic pillars for the next five years and beyond.

“Kenya will have a pool of expertise that has been adequately tooled to not only operate the critical pieces of infrastructure, but also to maintain and repair it.

At the same time, cooperation with RTI fostered over 1,200 Kenyan technicians for the SGR operation,” CS Macharia said during a send-off for the beneficiaries.

The government intends to have atleast 18 passenger and freight trains by end of 2019 and, therefore, the need to have more local experts to manage the SGR.

“By end of June our plan is to have six trains, by end of December we intend to have 12 trains, and by end of December 2018, we will be having 18 trains to help boost business growth,” Mr Macharia said.

Seven counties

Currently, Kenya Railways operates four trains from one in May 2017 going to Mombasa and back.

The trains connect at least seven counties between Nairobi and Mombasa cities.

Kenya also got a boost after global shipping company Maersk Shipping Line East Africa committed to transport its cargo from the Port of Mombasa to the Inland Container Deport in Nairobi through SGR thereby increasing freight services.

“We need to increase the capacity to develop the entire railway systems,” he said.

China has become Kenya’s largest trading partner, investor and contractor and their firms have invested billions of shillings in sectors such as manufacturing, housing and agriculture.

According to Kenya China Economic and Trade Association (KCETA) chairperson Zhang Haifeng, if properly guided, investment in railway training can help boost the Big Four Agenda for Kenya.

Mr Zhang encouraged Chinese manufacturers to work in partnership with local businesses to transfer technology, so as to help growth of the local manufacturing sector.
 

KISUMU
Leaders reject construction of SGR port in Kisumu
6 days ago Zuhura Ali



Former gubernatorial aspirant Vincent Sidai and Busia Woman Representative Florence Mutua at the fundraising event. [Photo/busiacounty.go.ke]


A section of leaders from Busia County have rejected the planned construction of a Standard Gauge Railway port in the lakeside town of Kisumu.

According to the leaders, building the port in Kisumu will reduce the border towns of Busia and Malaba to ghost towns with little activity.

The leaders who included former gubernatorial aspirant Vincent Sidai, Women Representative Florence Mutua and Teso North MP Oku Kaunya said the government plans to have all inland port services handled in Kisumu, adding that it will relegate Busia and Malaba towns into transit-only points.

The leaders who were speaking at St Thomas ACK Church during a fundraiser in Katakwa said the move will undermine business at the two border towns.

"This means we shall have no business in Malaba and Busia. It is very unfair. Malaba and Busia are big border towns. We don’t want to see trains just pass with goods," Sidai said as quoted by Radio Jambo.

He said there are thousands of jobless youth in Busia county, and transferring all port activities to Kisumu will spiral unemployment in the border town.

Busia and Malaba are two busy border towns as they act as entry and exit points to landlocked countries in East and Central Africa including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, South Sudan and the Central African Republic.
Leaders reject construction of SGR port in Kisumu
 
Wewe tuletee story za esijiiara ya bongo bwana. Achana na internal politics za Kenya.😀😀😀
 
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