Remember the feeling you got during visiting days in school? Well Nyeri County is today beaming with excitement as the President arrives in the county ‘bearing gifts.’
President Uhuru Kenyatta has arrived in Nyeri County on an official working tour where he has commissioned the construction of the Terminal 1 at Nyaribo Airstrip.
It’s was a new dawn for Nyeri County after the county government launched the first maiden flight at the Nyaribo Airstrip last month enabling travelers from Nyeri region to fly directly to Nairobi.
“My Government is committed to improving the aviation infrastructure across the country, to spur economic development for the benefit of all Kenyans,” said President Kenyatta.
https://twitter.com/UKenyatta/status/1057950006680858624
At Ksh. 3,000 per trip, tourists, business people and other travelers can get to the capital city in less than 25 minutes compared to taking a three-hour journey by road.
“The Sh3, 000 we are charging is just to entice clients to use planes in place of matatus because it is more convenient. But as our clientele grows, we could raise the charges by Sh1,000 as well as increase the number of flights per day,” said the owner of Bushfire Tours and Safaris Company, Mr Ndiritu when the flight was launched.
CS Mucheru said that planes will take off from Nyaribo at 6:30am and will land at the Wilson Airport.
President Uhuru Kenyatta is also expected to officially open the Karatina market that has previously satlled for over ten years. The construction of the market was commissioned in 2010 but has since been affected by politics and constant change of contractors.
Karatina market is the second largest open air market in Africa after Nigeria’s Kano, started operating in 1938 as a barter trade centre. The market’s rehabilitation entails the construction of a three storey building with 8,000 square metre floor space, an underground parking and a cold storage facility.
Mathira MP, Rigathi Gachagua has been rooting for the completion of the market.
“This is an embarrassment to the government and all of us, in fact some of us have been forced to dodge traders who keep asking us about this project. We have been taken round in circles for nine years and we will not take it anymore,” he said.
However, after nearly a decade thousands of traders will from today be able to use the facility.
“We are indeed very grateful to the leaders who have pushed this project to its logical conclusion. It is a happy ending and we believe this time we are getting the real deal,” said Mr Gerald Kimondo, the chairman of Karatina Market Traders Association.