Kenya’s biggest project since independence – the Standard Gauge Railway – is set to be launched next week in a colourful ceremony that will be led by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The project is set to benefit millions of Kenyans in many ways, including reducing the travel time between the capital Nairobi and the coastal city of Mombasa.
The Chinese company that was contracted to build the rail, the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), has hailed the progress of the project, heaping praise on Kenyan workers for making it possible to complete it well ahead of the projected time.
CRBC however did not just focus on building the rail. It also conducted various side-projects under its SGR Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
The CSR activities have benefitted residents of eight SGR corridor counties; Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale, Taita Taveta, Makueni, Machakos, Kajiado and Nairobi.
CRBC’s inventory of CSR projects along the corridor is broad, but one of the areas in which the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor for SGR has been particularly active in is the construction of boreholes, which will ease the various communities’ access to water sources.
The CRBC also undertook road construction projects that will improve links between the railway termini and the rural towns.
Also, with the rail cutting across the cast Tsavo National Park, the SGR contractor dug many water points that will be used by the animals, and will also improve water storage for us during the dry seasons.
In addition to these, CRBC has also engaged in other CSR initiatives that have impacted positively on the lives of the residents of the areas traversed by the SGR line, including donations to local schools, road rescue operations, community road repair in counties traversed by the project and AIDS awareness and prevention initiatives benefiting thousands of Kenyans.
President Uhuru will use the train during its inaugural ride to Nairobi from Mombasa, and will be accompanied by other high-profile officials including deputy president William Ruto, transport cabinet secretary James Macharia, Chinese ambassador to Kenya Liu Xianfa among others.
