Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) is set to rehabilitate 74 more stalled Nairobi County Government vehicles within the next two months.
This follows a successful rehabilitation of 83 such vehicles that had been grounded for about eight years at the government garage in Industrial Area.
Some Sh22 million was spent on the first phase of the project in partnership with a team from the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF).
NMS Director-General Mohammed Badi said his administration intends to repair another 74 vehicles and plant equipment, including 10 ambulances, 20 light vehicles, 22 trucks and 22 plant and light equipment for road works.
To aid the project, Maj-Gen Badi said, NMS has recruited an additional 22 artisans and mechanics among retired KDF personnel to address the acute shortage of technicians in the facility.
Part of the refurbished fleet of vehicles belonging to Nairobi County Government.
Photo credit: Courtesy
“In the second phase, 74 more vehicles will be rehabilitated. The vehicles will bolster service delivery in the respective sectors,” said Maj-Gen Badi.
The first phase of the project, which began in July, saw NMS overhaul the county fleet in just two months.
The rehabilitated vehicles include 21 tippers for environment and construction works, 24 fire engines, six ambulances, three hydraulic platforms for street lighting programme, two scrub street sweepers and two graders.
Others are a backhoe loader, wheel loader, pneumatic roller, two water bowsers, a farm tractor and 19 light vehicles.
The vehicles are part of the close to 70 per cent of City Hall vehicles, plants and equipment wasting away at the government garage with minor mechanical breakdowns such as malfunctioning brakes, gears, indicators and clutches.
Mr Badi said most of the vehicles, plants and equipment used in garbage collection and transportation had been grounded for years at the garage where, out of 56 trucks, only 15 were operational.
"The privately contracted garages were taking too long to repair most of the vehicles at a high cost," he said.
In late August, the team recovered close to 40 vehicles with 10 tippers, a grader, two backhoe loaders, five ambulances having been refurbished.
NMS took charge of four key Nairobi County Government functions of health, transport, public works, utilities and ancillary services, and county planning and development in March after the signing of a deed transfer of functions between Governor Mike Sonko and the National Government in February.
Part of the refurbished fleet of vehicles belonging to Nairobi County Government.
Photo credit: Courtesy
Speaking during the flagging off of the refurbished fleet of vehicles on Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta expressed optimism that the grounded vehicles will be repaired in the next two months to serve residents of Nairobi.
The Head of State challenged Kenyans working in different sectors of the economy to emulate the efficiency exhibited by KDF, saying that would ensure effective and timely delivery of services to the people.
He cited several infrastructure projects such as rehabilitation of railway lines, Kisumu Port as well as the restoration of ships as some of the notable achievements by the KDF.
“If all of us operated, behaved, loved and served their country in the manner in which our Kenya Defence Forces does, Kenya would today be a great country. And we all have a big lesson to learn,” the President said.
