SGR DERAILS MOMBASA'S ECONOMY


The Kenya Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), which is considered as the biggest transport infrastructure project in the country’s history, seeks to provide inexpensive and efficient mobility of cargo and passengers.
A train at Nairobi terminus. Image: courtesy of Google


A flagship project of the Kenya Vision 2030, the SGR extends from the port of Mombasa at the Indian Ocean to Malaba town at the Kenya-Uganda boarder.The initial phase of the project running from Mombasa to Nairobi was completed in 2017 and is operational with 14 freight and 4 passenger trains while the second phase – Nairobi-Naivasha SGR – is currently under construction.

Despite the fact that the railway is a worthwhile project expected to bring in numerous socio-economic benefits and grow the country’s GDP by 1.5%, it has derail Mombasa's economy in many ways.The study by the University of Nairobi (UoN)  revealed that more than 60 per cent of employees working at the Container Freight Stations (CFSs) had been sacked.


The study further revealed that the coastal county is at “economic decay point”, with CFSs, long-distance trucks and transport related businesses such as fuelling and service stations mostly affected.For centuries, Mombasa’s economy has gravitated around the port but now its mainstay is facing a challenge in what some observers say is a slow and painful death.

“The transport sector is dying before our on eyes, firms are now laying off drivers, everything is moving to Nairobi,” said Kenya Transporters Association (KTA) Chief Executive Officer Dennis Ombok.
Dock Workers Union Secretary General Simion Sang also paints a gloomy picture of Mombasa’s economy.
Mr Sang says that only 13 per cent of the cargo at the port is bound for Mombasa with the remaining destined for Nairobi, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Southern Sudan and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Of all that, 27 per cent of the cargo is destined for landlocked countries and 60 per cent for Nairobi, the 87 per cent will soon be cleared from Nairobi.

By: Stergen Ander

Comments

  1. Langat NathanMarch 16, 2020 at 11:27 PM

    True bro the economy of Mombasa is decaying slowly. Where will this sacked workers go

    ReplyDelete

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