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The refurbishment of terminals 1B and 1C at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi has kicked off.
The facelift of the two terminals is being done by Chinese engineering company, China Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation at a cost of Sh960 million.
The launch of construction works comes after the Procurement Administrative Review Board gave the tendering process a clean bill, following complaints filed by other bidders.
Some of the 15 companies that were rivaling China Jiangxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation for the contract challenged its selection, arguing that procurement guidelines were flouted.
But the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) insists that the Chinese company won the tender after following due process.
“We awarded the tender to this Chinese firm after successfully bidding for it,” said KAA acting managing-director, Alex Gitari.
The one-year-long project involves refurbishing departure halls to improve the check-in, security screening, retail operations, and passenger lounge experiences.
The renovation is expected to ease passenger flow by increasing the efficiency of airport procedures.
“The refurbishment and facelift of the terminals aim to align the passenger experiences to match what is offered at terminal 1A. The remodeling project is an integral part of the ongoing JKIA Customer Service Improvement Plan (CSIP),” said Gitari.
The two terminals serve international passengers on minor carriers at JKIA and have been closed for one year to pave the way for the renovation.
Airlines operating on the two terminals were temporarily relocated to terminal 1A and terminal 2. Travelers moved to the alternative terminals are required to arrive at the airport four hours before departure.
JKIA handles about 10 million passengers annually, making it one of the busiest airports on the continent.
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Issue is funding. If we can have a Kenyan company with equipment and money, we would let them refurb the airport in Mombasa or Eldoret, as a loan to the government. We gave the Americans the Mombasa hwy and after more than 5 years, they're still negotiating. It's all about who can get the job done as a loan to the GK. And for now, only the Chinese have money.
@imkgoogo, are you telling the Mwakilishi family that merely doing a facelift to an existing building, our government needs a guy who will come with: the equipment, the skills, and all the money needed for the entire project? So, before one can win the tender, he must have all the money needed for the project and also be willing to lend the Kenya government such money? Am I missing something? This must be a great opportunity for corruption. No wonder nearly all government tenders go to foreigners and come with strings attached. Didn't Uhuru shamelessly tell the nation that, under his watch, we loose KSH 2billion per day? (na kweri wa kirimu witirithagia na mugi) a fools waking stuff aids the cleaver one. Wananchi truly think we have a government minding our great nation but what they don't realize is that all we have is a broken house with thieves and robbers left in charge.
Do we need to borrow as little as 960 million really?.. Is the situation that dire?..and Billions just disappeared into the pockets of covid billionaires,Kenya ni yetu kweli
How many facelifts have been done in JKIA? This is a very lucrative business for someone in Kenya.
lOL..was wondering the same thing here.
Mmmh the soon to b supa pawa Chinese have really taken over this world.I remember French/Usa/Britain were wining this tenders in plenty few years back but since they have ran out monies n much influence the supa mighty chinese have taken over.We should b ready to learn Chinese the way we did queens English hopefully we won’t b much brainwashed mentality.
... they brought Coronavirus, and Covid-19, and quickly brought it under control in China, while the rest of the World battles it out. The real problem as of now is that the Communist Party in China controls everything that comes from China. Ie, even the Chinese companies who are building Infructure in Kenya, are required by Chinese law, to inform the Chinese Communist Party about everything they know about Kenya...
They’re lying.
A new COW TO MILK.
REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION, REVOLUTION.
for matters development projects, a lot of these so called local contractors may need to be hired by the Chinese first, so that they can learn how to project manage..i.e. finish on time, and stop "eating" the funds meant for projects.
We cannot trust our people to do a facelift to an existing building? Matters to do with national security, and we give to the Chinese? What if they manipulate such security for their future access and control? Almost 60 year since independence and we still depended on others in virtually everything: putting up buildings roads\ highways, railways, airports, dams; even the foods we eat, fish, rice, maize sugar etc. Rather than promote our textile industry, all manner of clothes are dumped on our people in every major city. We hire thousands of {workers}-clothes makers, furniture and shoe makers to take care of our basic needs. We don't have jobs. We meet our basic needs by providing jobs to others in foreign countries. They feed and educate their children and are able to live happy lives out of our stupidity. Think about it, they start insurances companies, bring nothing but paper work, collect tons of money from all the insured and take all their profits abroad. Why do we allow foreigners to collect our money-{insurance}, pay out the few insurance claims and then take the rest of money abroad. Why can't we leave this to Kenyans. Sometimes its a struggle to make this companies pay you what is due your insurance policy. Its free money for them. We should think-made in Kenya first.