President William Ruto on Thursday announced the expansion of the Manda Bay Airfield runway in Lamu.
The announcement was made following a cabinet meeting chaired by the Head of State to deliberate on measures to tame the surging floods among other things.
According to President William Ruto, the project will enhance the Kenya Defence Force's (KDF's) capacity to defend the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Manda Airstrip which is located on Manda Island in Lamu is a geo-strategic facility that the military would utilise as a way of enhancing national, regional and global security operations.
The approval will also see the airstrip cater to large scale aircraft services including hosting larger airplanes on improved runways.
The Cabinet's approval of runway renovations on the airstrip comes amidst persistent complaints about the poor state of the runway by users.
Stakeholders in the Lamu tourism sector are among those who vented their displeasure at the delays in the renovations of the airstrip, a factor they claimed was hindering tourism in the region.
The upgrade which kicked off in 2021 has stalled for several years despite the project having been tipped to end within the first six months of its commencement.
Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) was tasked with the role of presiding over the expansion of the runway.
However, the contractor who was responsible for making the repairs cited the inadequacy of water as a main challenge in the stalled project.
Among other things deliberated by the Cabinet during its meeting including the repairs on school infrastructure following a trail of destruction left behind by floods.
To repair and rehabilitate destroyed school infrastructure, the Cabinet directed that the Ministry of Education work with the National Government Constituency Development.
