Infrastructural Authorities strategize for fight against Vandalism

Last Updated 13 years ago by Kenya Engineer

The menace of vandalism has been a nightmare to the road authorities in the country. The Principal Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, Eng. John Mosonik has said that the country needs to find a long term solution that involves discipline and penalizing those found guilty of vandalism.

This he said speaking at the ground breaking ceremony at Bellevue yesterday to launch two footbridges at Bellevue and General Motors along Mombasa Road. (Read: Life saving Foot bridges to be set up in two Highway Blackspots)

Eng. Mosonik said that the government is concerned by the rampant rise in vandalism and theft of road furniture that has been taking place in urban roads. 

“This is a developing country with very few vehicles, but why do we have higher incidents of vandalism and also deaths? These people dying can be your brother, it can be you,” said the PS. “The best thing is we take initiative immediately to curb this issue,” he added. 

“Along this highway alone all the way to the airport (JKIA) Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) is spending  KSh1.2 million per month for patrol and maintenance following increased cost of vandalism that has been taking place, “he said.

From statistics, it is estimated that KSh50 million has been lost to vandals along Thika Super Highway alone since it was opened.

“We’re putting good facilities on our roads, it’s really discouraging to see people with sound mind coming to steal and breaking such facilities,” said the PS.

The Chairperson of KeNHA, Mrs.  Hannah Muriithi who was also present at the ceremony agreed with Eng. Mosonik adding that vandalism and the theft of road furniture “kills the beauty, it kills the safety and also the morale.”  

The PS cited examples of sites that have fallen victim of vandalism, urging members of the public and all stakeholders to report any cases of vandalism so that action can be taken.

“In Mombasa, more than 5km of Guard rails separating carriageways between Miritini and Mazeras have been vandalized and Guard rails have been removed at the bridge at General Motors,” he said.

KeNHA is set to procure performance based contract to maintain Thika Superhighway. The contractor is expected to carry out patrols, alert-enforcement units on vandalism and handle emergencies such as vehicle breakdowns. 

“The Ministry through the road authorities will continue researching and deploying alternative materials for road furniture that are not attractive to vandals,” said Eng. Mosonik. 

Regarding this menace, Nairobi’s County Governor, Dr. Evans Kidero speaking at the ceremony yesterday said that the ban against trade by no license of scrap metal is still enforced.

“I’d like to request the Members of Parliament to hasten and pass the Scrap Metal Trade Bill so that we have a legal basis to ensure that the integrity of the roads and the guard rails used to govern the roads are maintained,” said Dr. Kidero.

In June, the Governor set up a rapid response team to crack down on persons engaging in illegal scrap metal transactions. This followed shortly after the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, Eng.  Michael Kamau banned export of scrap metal from Kenya after three containers holding scrap metal were found at the port of Mombasa.