[kictanet] RESPONSES FROM ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE STATE OF KENYAN ROADS

Wed May 30 11:49:24 EAT 2012

Listers

I have removed them from the attachment and copied into the body of
the mail for easier reading.

1. Where does Kenya stand when it comes to local road standards vis a
vis international
standards?

Kenyan road standards are prepared to international standards. Our Road Design
Manuals were developed from international standards and customized to suit local
conditions. Furthermore, in Kenya, standards make reference to international
standards like Road Notes, TRRL, AASHTO, FIDIC among others.

2. What are the “smart transport solutions” (ICTs integration) Kenya
is considering to
use in order to enhance road safety especially along the entire Thika road?

We are considering installation of traffic lights, road signage and
road marking to
enhance road safety along the entire Thika road. Further,
incorporation of ICT as part
of PPP contract for maintenance of Nairobi-Thika Road is being considered.

3. What does KeNHA have to say about the quality of work being done on the road
between Rimpa and Magadi (so far upto Kiserian town)?

KeNHA has put in place the right quality control measures to ensure
that the works
done meet the specifications. However, National Water Conservation and Pipeline
Corporation are laying water pipes along the same road between
Kiserian and Ongata
Rongai. The material being excavated has been dumped on the side drains and road
shoulders. This situation is temporary. Once backfilling is complete,
drains will be
cleaned and shoulders reinstated.

4. How are roads categorized, in terms of those managed by the local
authorities,
central government and, if possible, those ones that are
internationally managed?

Roads are categorized into Class A, B, C, D, E, urban roads, park roads and
unclassified roads. KeNHA manages Class A (International trunk roads),
B (national
trunk roads) and C. KeRRA manages Class D, E and rural unclassified roads while
KURA manages urban roads. KWS manages park roads.

5. Why does the government award contracts to companies that do not do their job
professionally?

Government contracts are awarded in accordance with the provisions of the
Public Procurement and Disposal Act, 2005 and Regulations, 2006. This includes
competitive bidding process through tendering and award to the lowest
evaluated bid.

6. There is a contractor who was awarded a contract to rehabilitate
Nairobi-Naivasha
Road (between the former Museum Hill roundabout and Rironi) and they’ve dug
a whole stretch of the road, about a kilometre and a half. They dug up patches
everywhere that drivers have to be extra cautious. Is there anything
the Authority
(assuming the said section is under Eng. Kidenda’s Authority) can do
to make sure

there are mechanisms in place for the Contractor to ensure he does not
put the lives
of road users at risk?

The Contractor milled the road with an intention to immediately cover
it with Asphalt
Concrete (AC). However, the rains started and AC could not be laid under the wet
weather conditions which lasted for two weeks resulting in further
deterioration of the
milled section.

Nevertheless, the section was covered with AC after the rains subsided. The
Contractor is under instructions not to open up large sections of road
and leave them
exposed for longer periods.

7. How ‘safe’ are our new roads? Would they pass muster if road safety
audits were
conducted?

All new roads are designed and constructed to achieve the highest
possible safety
standards. Where the highest possible safety standard cannot be
attained due to the
nature of terrain, appropriate speed reduction measures are
implemented. It is worth
noting that safety on our roads is highly dependent on disciplined use
of the roads by
all the users i.e. motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, hand cart
pullers, amongst others.

8. There is a fundamental design flaw on our roads. Are concerned
parties now ready
to listen or are we going to export these problems to Langata Rd, Ngong Rd, New
airport terminals, Lamu Port etc?

We are not aware of any fundamental design flaw on our roads. We will
appreciate if
you can highlight those fundamental design flaws for our further
necessary action.

9. There is a role played by auditors at various stages. Do we have
evidence that
KeNHA engages these or in other words do we have people in Government/Private
sector playing that role currently?

KeNHA has an Internal Audit section which audits all the works and services
undertaken by the organisation on a daily basis. In addition, KeNHA
has a Quality
Assurance department which is in charge of ensuring quality in all its
endeavours.
The Quality Assurance department usually engages the services of the
Private sector
to execute their function independently. Furthermore, Kenya Roads Board engages
the Private sector to conduct audit checks on roads financed under
Road Maintenance
Levy Fund. Lastly, the Kenya National Audit Office conducts regular
audits on all
roads contracts countrywide.

10. There is data collection and its role. But as we know data is
useless unless turned to
information. Does the relevant authority use this data?

All required data is collected and utilised. These include data on
traffic surveys, axle
load surveys, materials investigations, environmental impact
assessment, topographic
survey, accidents, weather patterns, among other data are all utilized
for design and

eventually construct roads.

11.There is the common user and there very annoying problems-turn-offs which are
suddenly blocked with no notice, oncoming vehicle channelled to your
lane, taking
one hour to get to your gate while all the time you can see it a few
metres from where
you are stuck! Who is listening and helping?

As explained earlier, road safety is a function of disciplined use by
all the road users.
Traffic rules are to be enforced by the Traffic Police. Our mandate
does not include
enforcement of traffic rules. There are traffic signs to notify
deviations and speed
limits to make motorists aware of the situations ahead. This calls for
motorists to be
vigilant and observant when driving.

12. There is the role that ICT can play to enable smart infrastructure
– my take is that
unless we embed it in at step 1 (design) above, it will be most likely
be cosmetic.

Currently we have employed use of ICT in monitoring our weighbridges and have
also installed automatic counters on our roads to count vehicular
traffic plying the
roads. However, due to constrained funding from the exchequer, and the need to
increase connectivity countrywide through construction of all weather roads, the
authority has prioritized building of more new roads and maintenance of existing
ones. With the advent of PPP and having its legal framework in place,
the use of ICT
and its utilisation in Smart Highways will easily be accommodated.

13. Are there any efforts to integrate intelligent transportation
systems in these new super
highways? (Making the infrastructure Smart) Should there be an
accident on the one
way lane (how do we alert speeding drivers coming from behind).
Secondly is there a
provision for transmitters that can allow smart driving and speed cameras?

This question has been addressed above.

14. What strategy does KeNHA have for creating ducts for fibre optic
and power cables,
are we likely to see the new roads being dug up?

We incorporate ducts in our road projects for passing of services
across the road.
Where the ducts are not in place we only allow micro-tunnelling.
Digging up of roads
for purposes of utilities is no longer accepted.

15. Are there frameworks for evaluating infrastructure alternatives
and clear processes
for evaluating infrastructure system designs?

All these are taken care of at Feasibility, Preliminary and Detailed Engineering
studies.

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 11:32 AM, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com> wrote:
> Listers
>
> Greetings.
>
> Kindly find attached a response from Engineer Kidenda on the state of Kenyan
> Roads.
>
> Rgds
> Grace
>
> ________________________________
> Date: Wed, 30 May 2012 09:23:03 +0100
> From: ekebaya at yahoo.co.uk
> Subject: RE: KENYA ICT ACTION NETWORK QUESTIONS TO ENGINEER KIDENDA ON THE
> STATE OF KENYAN ROADS
> To: ggithaiga at hotmail.com; dg at kenha.co.ke; otieno.barrack at gmail.com
>
> Dear Grace,
>
> I sent this response to you yesterday from our official mail but it seems it
> did not get through.
>
> Kindly acknowledge receipt
>
> Regards
>
> Esther Kebaya
> for: Director General, KeNHA
>
> _______________________________________________
> kictanet mailing list
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
>
> Unsubscribe or change your options at
> https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jgmbugua%40gmail.com
>
> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for
> people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.