Construction of an airport on land ceded by Del Monte is set to begin soon. Kiambu Governor James Nyoro announced the plans and said the multinational fruit juice maker ceded 635 acres of its underutilized land in Gatuanyaga ward, Thika East, in 2018 for the project development.
In return, the county government agreed to renew the firm’s lease of some 8000 acres for another 99 years. During the agreement signing overseen by the company managing director Stergios Gkaliamoutsas and former Kiambu Governor Ferdinand Waititu, the county boss revealed that some 200 acres of the ceded land would be used for an airport.
Public participation forums
Nyoro, who spoke while launching the grading and gravelling of roads within Kamenu ward in Thika, said plans are at an advanced stage to have the airport constructed. He said that will be a major milestone towards enabling Thika municipality to achieve city status. The county government is working closely with the national government to roll out infrastructural projects in Thika geared towards elevating the municipality to a city.
“Thika will be the next city and we are working round the clock to ensure that all requirements for the municipality to be elevated to a city are met. We are currently undertaking massive development projects geared towards achieving this goal,” said the governor.
The county government will also hold public participation forums with Thika residents to get their views on how the land hived off by Del Monte will be utilized. The county chief also said a section of the land will also be used to set up an industrial park.
