State remains mum on the fate of JKIA runway project

The long awaited construction of a new runway at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi remains postponed indefinitely despite the approval of a Sh16.5 billion loan by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to finance the project.

Transport secretary James Macharia says the government is currently focusing on the expansion of terminal B, C, and D to handle 12 million passengers up from 7.5 million travellers – reigniting the speculation that the Sh37 billion project has been cancelled.

“We have had urgent additional investment which had to be done for our aviation sector before even thinking of the second runway,” said Mr Macharia in an interview with NTV last Monday.

Mid last year,  there were speculations that the project had been abandoned, prompting Mr Macharia to clarify that the government was taking its time to reflect on the facility’s economic viability before its construction.

“In the next six weeks the decision will be out on whether we shall continue with the construction of the second runway at JKIA. We are still engaging in strategic discussions over the project,” Mr Macharia said in an interview last year, adding that the loan deal from the AfDB was intact.

But nearly a year later, the government is yet to give any word on the status of the proposed development that would nearly double the movement of aircraft from 25 to 45 per hour thus minimising delays caused by mishaps on path.

AfDB funding

In November 2017, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) secured funding from AfDB for the project. The bank approved a Sh16 billion loan with the government topping up 20 per cent of the total cost.

Three months later, Construction Kenya reported that AfDB was about to back out of the deal following the State’s failure to give a detailed strategy of how it planned to raise the rest of the money needed for the Sh37 billion project.

READ: Why JKIA’s second runway project has failed to take off

KAA had planned to use part of the AfDB loan to hire a consultant to prepare an impact study for the ambitious project.

“Since the AfDB has refused to disburse the first installment of the loan, the KAA has been unable to conduct this audit, which has delayed the project,” Construction Kenya reported.

Following the approval of the loan in November 2017, the KAA had indicated that construction of the second runway would commence in the second half of last year to enable the airport to handle bigger aircraft that ply intercontinental routes.

The proposed runway, whose design was financed by the AfDB, is 4.8 kilometres long and 75 metres wide – a significant improvement from the current facility that has a length of 4.2 kilometres and a width of 60 metres.

Construction of the new runway was expected to begin by end of June 2018 and tenders had already been floated, with more than 50 local and foreign companies bidding.

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