Vision 2030 Milestone as Isiolo Airport is commissioned

…Construction works for the terminal building also get underway for Northern Kenya’s first Airport

Kenya’s efforts to ensure the timely implementation of the Vision 2030 National development policy have received a major boost with the historical opening of the Isiolo Airport Runway today.

For the first time in Kenya’s history, the Upper Eastern Region will now enjoy the convenience of a fully-fledged commercial airport ahead of the Isiolo Resort City development project. The new airport developed and managed by the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is Kenya’s fifth International Airport and is expected to promote development in the vast region.

Speaking during the 1.4Km runway commissioning and the groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed terminal building, Vision 2030 Delivery Board Chairperson Dr. James Mwangi said the new Isiolo airport will help unlock the region’s economic potential in line with Vision 2030 ideals. He also noted that the Airport will provide added convenience to Oil exploration companies operating in Marsabit and Turkana Counties.

“As a key foundation, Vision 2030 aspires for a country firmly interconnected through a network of roads, railways, ports, airports, water and sanitation facilities and telecommunications,” he assured. And added: “By 2030, it will become impossible to refer to any region of our country as “remote”. Furthermore, to ensure that the main projects under the economic pillar are implemented, investment in the nation’s infrastructure will be given the highest priority.”

During the commissioning ceremony presided over by President Mwai Kibaki, the Vision 2030 Delivery Board Chairperson singled out the new Isiolo Airport to be constructed at a cost of Kshs 963Million as one of the major components envisioned under the Lamu Port-Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor development, which is a Vision 2030 flagship project.

The new Isiolo Airport Development project will involve the construction of a Passenger Terminal Building covering a floor area of 4800 sq. m. and with a throughput capacity of 125,000 passengers annually.

Vision 2030, is also focused on the completion of the Isiolo- Marsabit-Moyale highway to foster development across the region, Dr. Mwangi explained.

The region’s development plans under Vision 2030 will also involve the establishment of a fully-fledged export processing zone, livestock and related food processing plants, an oil refinery and the proposed Isiolo and Lake Turkana Resort Cities.

While expressing regret that the poor road network had hampered development efforts in the region, Dr Mwangi assured that Vision 2030 had prioritised infrastructural development as the foundation element of national development.

“Specific focus has been deliberately attached on the role of key sectors such as infrastructure development to promote economic growth and unlock the latent potential existing in such regions as Isiolo county and other pastoral areas,” Dr Mwangi explained.

Last November, President Kibaki also presided over the project kick off for the new 122km Turbi-Moyale road currently under construction at a cost of Kshs 12Billion to provide a crucial link to the LAPSSET) and the Great North Trans African Highway that links Cape Town, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.  Already the road, which is under construction to bitumen standards, has been identified as a priority project in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) short-term action plan.

Geared at transforming Kenya into a middle income, globally competitive and industrializing country with a high quality of life in the next 17 years, Vision 2030, is anchored on three pillars—the Social, Economic and Political—and an auxiliary pillar known as the Enablers and Macro Pillar, which covers those projects, interventions and initiatives whose impact ultimately cuts across all the other three pillars.