Mombasa Port users have asked the government to speed up ongoing expansion of roads outside the facility to hasten evacuation of cargo and reduce cost of shipping.

They say efforts over the years to manage the traffic from the port have not borne fruit.

Car Importers Association of Kenya (CIAK) chairman Peter Otieno said Mombasa and Nairobi are linked by a two-lane highway, leading to frequent traffic snarl-ups caused by cargo trucks, especially at Mariakani and Mlolongo weigh-bridges.

He says increased traffic jams due to lack of adequate infrastructure outside the port has forced the cost of shipping to continue rising and additional lanes on the highway would help ease cost of doing business.

His sentiments come just a month after Transport Cabinet secretary James Macharia announced plans to partner with the private sector to build a six-lane highway from Mombasa to Nairobi were at an advanced stage.

The CS said the highway and the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge Railway will link the capital city with Mombasa to ease traffic flow and shorten the time taken for cargo to reach Nairobi from the port.

Construction of the wider highway was part of the government’s initiatives of expanding the road infrastructure throughout the country to complement the upgrading of the railway line to SGR and expansion of Mombasa and Lamu ports.

Source: Mediamax

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