The Leather Industry stakeholders have raised concern over awarding of Sh1.2 billion tenders for the construction of four industrial warehouses in Machakos County.
The stakeholders in the industry, said that the Kenya Leather and Development Council(KLDC) has awarded two tenders for the construction of four industrial warehouses. The construction of the warehouses is meant to facilitate the occupation of the park by having a plug and play facilities. They claim the awarding of the two tenders is being driven by personal interests. The private stakeholders in the industry say project risk being turned into a white elephant.
The stakeholders are complaining that the award is hurried without first resolving outstanding park issues between KLDC and Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) that are likely to delay the operationalization of the park. They want outstanding park issues resolved and also claim that the council does not have enough financial back up to see the completion of the project expressing fear of pending bills if the project goes on.
Smooth completion of the project
“Some of the pending issues are reduction of the park acreage from the 500acres to 200 acres and allocation of 100 acres to KLDC which has necessitated the resurveying and tilting of the 100 acres”, said the stakeholders in a statement.
On their part the Kenya Leather Development Council defended the billion shilling project and said that it is on course and necessary approvals have been done to ensure smooth completion of the project that is aimed at attracting investors to the leather industry.
“We have done a master plan for the entire area given to KLDC, construction of two affluent plants is ongoing and on target,” said Livestock PS Harry Kimutai.
