Affordable Housing projects to give a lifeline to Jua Kali sector in Garissa

Erick Kyalo-KNA

The Jua Kali sector in Garissa will benefit tremendously from supplying building materials to the affordable housing projects in the county.

According to the Northeastern Coordinator for Affordable Housing and Markets John Karanja, Garissa County will receive Sh1.03 billion for housing projects alone.

The projects include the construction of the 408 housing units, which are about 40 per cent complete, 1,720- bed capacity hostels at the Garissa University, and a modern market at a cost of Sh288 million among others.

Speaking during a meeting with the Jua Kali sector representatives and the housing contractors in Garissa town, Karanja said the contractors have an obligation to cascade the works to all the levels, which include sourcing of materials from local artisans.

“In the Affordable Housing projects, we have 75 ring fenced items which include the windows, steel doors, flash doors, landscaping works as well as the painting works among others for the Jua Kali sector,” Karanja said.

“We came here to have the Jua Kali artisans start onboarding themselves into these works. It is a mutual understanding between the contractor and the Jua Kali but more importantly is that the government is very deliberate that an item that has been earmarked for the Jua Kali must be undertaken by the Jua Kali,” he added.

Garissa Township Member of Parliament Dekow Mohamed encouraged young people, especially skilled plumbers, electricians, welders and painters in the county to take up the job opportunities to better their lives.

“I want to encourage the Jua Kali guys to be prepared because we have another 2,000 units coming up and two other markets in the pipeline. There are also many other associated infrastructures which will have opportunities for them,” Mohamed said.

“Within this year, we will build about 3,000 housing units for construction so you can imagine the economic benefit that this will bring to us,” he added.

Abubakar Mohamed, the chairperson for the Garissa Jua Kali Federation said they have never had such high value opportunities, noting that they would expand their workshop and improve the quality of their products from the capital.

“The Jua Kali artisans usually work under tough conditions and sometimes are looked down upon because they do a lot of hard work, but they never had any opportunity. They have minimal tools because their working capital is low but if they are given this opportunity, they will equip their workshops and uplift themselves,” Abubakar said.