It has now emerged that the government initially declined two proposals from the China Roads and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) and the Shandong Hi-Speed Road and Bridge International Engineering (SDRBI) to expand the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
A report released by the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA)on Tuesday, November 25, revealed that proposals by the two Chinese companies were initially declined before being later accepted.
It all began when the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Committee received and reviewed distinct proposals by the two companies, labelling CRBC as the first-ranked bidder and SDRBI as the second-ranked proponent.
After reviewing the proposals, the Committee granted KeNHA the approval to commence negotiations with the preferred proponent on the full-corridor option.
The first-ranked bidder, CRBC, later said it could not invest more than Ksh129 billion because of Chinese government rules for state-owned companies. Any approval above that amount would take about a year of internal reviews, which would delay the project too long.
To adjust the project to fit this limit would require major changes, the changes that the PPP Act does not allow during negotiations. So the negotiations had to be terminated.
Following the botched talks with CRBC, KeNHA then approached the second-ranked bidder, SDRBI, but they also said they could not undertake the full project for the same investment reasons.
Since neither bidder could deliver the full corridor as originally planned, the PPP Committee, with advice from the National Treasury, went back to evaluate the alternative 'split-scope' option.
They prepared evaluation reports on these split-scope proposals and sent them to the Committee, which made recommendations, leading to the approval of the proposals.
With the approval of the split scope option, CRBC is expected to undertake the construction of approximately 81 kilometres of the highway, while SDRBI will undertake 94 kilometres of the highway.
The expansion of the Rironi-Mau Summit highway is expected to commence in late November this year, with the project tipped to ease congestion along the ever-busy corridor.
