Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says the leaking roof at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is a result of poor workmanship by the contractor and engineers who were doing renovations at Terminal 1C and 1 E in the previous government of President Uhuru Kenyatta.
He said the contractors hurriedly carried out the temporary renovations without meeting the required standards since the government was in the process of decommissioning the terminal and constructing a new one.
Speaking in Diani, Kwale County while inspecting the expansion of Diani Airport, Murkomen said the renovations will be redone according to the required standards.
He maintained the engineers and contractor who were overseeing the renovations will have to explain why…
Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has attributed the leaking roof at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to poor workmanship by the contractor and engineers who were responsible for the renovations at Terminal 1C and 1E during the previous government of President Uhuru Kenyatta. According to Murkomen, the contractors rushed through the temporary renovations without meeting the required standards, as the government was in the process of decommissioning the terminal and constructing a new one.
During an inspection of the expansion of Diani Airport in Kwale County, Murkomen stated that the renovations at JKIA will need to be redone to meet the necessary standards. He emphasized that the engineers and contractor involved in the renovations will be held accountable for the substandard work that resulted in the leaking roof.
While the leaking roof has been temporarily fixed to prevent further leakage during the rainy season, Murkomen announced that a new contract will be awarded for the construction of a new terminal in the greenfield area at the Airport. This new project will be a private-public partnership set to commence in January 2024, with the aim of delivering a complete new Airport by 2027, as per the feasibility study already conducted.
In addition to addressing the leaking roof issue, Murkomen also mentioned the challenges with power supply at the airport. He stated that the government has installed a standby generator to tackle the outage problem, but there is still a delay in the power interchange process. Murkomen assured that efforts are being made to reduce the interchange time from 20 minutes to just 30 seconds, in order to improve the overall efficiency of operations at JKIA.
Murkomen said, by holding accountable those responsible for the poor workmanship and implementing necessary improvements, the government aims to enhance the infrastructure and services at one of the country’s key international airports
