Nakuru, so far the only major town in Kenya that has not had a public airfield, will soon have one after the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) settled on a contractor.
The national and county government, Ministry of Defence and Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) officials are expected to hold final site meeting ahead of the commencement of the work. Acting KAA Managing Director Alex Gitari confirmed the contract award.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to officiate the ground breaking ceremony before the end of the year.
The site meeting will discuss the contract, suitable location for the engineer’s office and the contractor’s camp, details of the operations or closure of the runaway during construction, security safety, access, and operations during the contract.
Nakuru Governor Lee Kinyanjui said the long-awaited upgrade of Lanet military airstrip into an international public airport will start in the next two months after bids for the construction work were closed this week.
The construction of Sh3 billion international airport at Lanet, Nakuru County, will be done in two phases.
Mr Kinyanjui said the first Sh400 million phase will involve rehabilitation of the runaway that will be used by a 50 seater planes.
At the same time, Mr Kinyanjui said the first phase will also see the construction of the perimeter fence, taxiways and terminals, a military lounge, an air rescue centre and a fire fighting building.
He said the second phase would entail expanding the runway from 1.7km to 3.6km. – Nation Africa
