State to set up centre of excellence at Konza, says PS

Maj Gen. (Rtd), Dr. Gordon Kihalangwa, Principal Secretary, State Department of Public Works and Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) Chief Executive Officer, Eng. John Tanui at Konza Technopolis. [James Wanzala, Standard]

Plans are underway to set up the Centre for Construction Industry Development (CCID) at the Konza Technopolis.

During a visit to the technology city, Public Works Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa said the building of the centre by the National Construction Authority (NCA) will begin in a year.

“By creating such a centre, we will ensure that from time to time, our people are educated and proper guidelines in the construction industry outlined so that challenges in the construction centre are addressed,” he said.

“We are hoping that within a year or so, we should have already begun construction.”

Major General (Rtd) Kihalangwa, who led a delegation from the NCA, said the government wants to create a centre of excellence for the country’s vibrant construction industry.

“It is an industry that employs citizens and foreigners and it is good to ensure we have a centre of excellence where some of the challenges we face are addressed,” he said.

Three parcels of land have been earmarked for the development of the CCID.

Present during the visit were NCA chairman David Gaitho, Executive Director Maurice Akech and Konza Technopolis Development Authority Chief Executive John Tanui.

Kihalangwa said they were happy with the progress made on the horizontal infrastructure, which has taken into account aspects such as drainage, water and roads.

“The Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology is doing a commendable job and this will be a game-changer. I am happy to be associated with the project,” he added.

He also urged government agencies to utilise the capacity within the department of public works, pointing out that Kotda was already doing so.

Tanui said almost half of the parcels in the first phase of the project had already been taken up.

“Phase One of the technopolis has spaces of about 145 parcels available for development... more than 40 per cent of these are already taken up,” he said.