The national government is planning to construct infrastructure to enable aerial cable cars to be used in crossing Likoni Channel. This project was first proposed to Kenya’s Ministry of Transport in 2013 by Trapos Limited. It was later approved by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Committee as required by the law.
The cable car project will entail 1,300 meters long cable structures stretching from mainland to Mombasa Island across the Likoni Channel. There will be 28 car cable cabins crossing the channel after every three (3) minutes.
This project will cost USD$ 43 million (Ksh. 4.43 billion) as reported in the draft Budget Policy Statement (BPS) 2018/2019.
This express car service at Likoni Channel will effectively link Mombasa Island and mainland and cut the travelling time by a great margin.
The Kenya Ferry Services estimated that the project will be a great boost to tourism in Mombasa. It will have a capacity of ferrying 11,000 passengers per hour. The commuters will enjoy a panoramic view of Mombasa from 100 meters above the ground or sea.
The project is sponsored by Trapos Limited which has contracted the services of Doppelmayr (a Swiss-Austrian) company to construct the cable car project at Likoni in Mombasa.
CFC Stanbic Bank will organize the funding aspect of the project which was initially expected to be built starting in 2015. Delays were encountered.
At completion of the project, the financier will operate the project under concession until they get back the money invested therein. This is estimated to take 30 years after which it will be handed over to the Kenya Ferry Services.
Users of the Cable cars will be required to pay a fare of Ksh. 20 in order for them to cross the channel. Currently, it is free to cross the channel using the ferries. If this project gets done, it will officially help Mombasa City will join cities such as Barcelona, Rio de Janeiro, Cologne, Algers, New York City and Portland-Oregon among others.
This is just one of the 35 different projects which will be implemented under the Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the period 2018 to 2020 by Kenya national government.
List of planned PPP projects 2018-2020
- 2nd Nyali Bridge
- Nairobi-Nakuru-Mau Summit Road
- Nairobi Mombasa Road
- Operations and maintenance of Thika Road
- SamatarWajir, Rhamu-Mandera road
- KajiadoImaroro, Ngong Kiserian- Isinya
- Bomas- Kiserian-Magadi, Bomas- Karen Dagoret- Ruiru, Uplands- Githunguri- Ngewa-Ruiru
- Urban Roads in Nyeri, Embu, Tharaka Nithi and Laikipia counties
- Urban Roads in Kakamega, Vihiga, Bungoma and Busia counties
- 960MW Coal Power Plant in Lamu (PPP Agreement has been signed)
- 140 MW Geothermal Project in Olkaria and many others.
All the above listed projects and many others are expected to cost the PPPs approximately USD$12.3 billion (Ksh. 1.23 trillion). That is an astronomical figure for development projects.
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