Ideas & Debate Mombasa super bridge plan set to relieve ferry pain for Coast residentsJapan’s ambassador to Kenya, Ryoichi Horie (left), and Acting Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani at the signing the Mombasa Gate Bridge loan deal in Nairobi last month. PHOTO | DIANA NGILAAn American structural engineer, Joseph Straus, once said: ‘Bridges are a monument of progress.’ This adage will soon hold true to residents of the Coast region, with the construction of the proposed Mombasa Gate Bridge across the Likoni channel. Construction of the Sh46 billion bridge, to facilitate traffic between the city of Mombasa, the South Coast and Kwale, starts in 2021 and is expected to boost trade and tourism on the South Coast. By 2047, when the government is expected to start repaying the Japanese loan, the economic impact of the super bridge on the South Coast and Mombasa City will be self-evident. The construction of the Mombasa Gate Bridge will also turn into reality the numerous promises made by the successive governments to link Mombasa City with the South Coast.

Source: The North Africa Journal October 06, 2019 18:56 UTC