Garissa Jua Kali artisans have expressed optimism that the affordable housing project will uplift their lives.
They said the project will allow them to uplift their livelihoods and improve their businesses.
Abubakar Mohamed, chairperson for the Garissa Juakali Federation, said they have never had such opportunities of high value before, promising to maximise on them.
He spoke during an onboarding meeting.
The meeting brought together government officials, members of the jua kali sector, SMEs and Housing Department officials and contractors.
“Today, we are very happy and delighted because we have been accorded an opportunity that we have never witnessed before. We have been given a chance to do all these constructions. We have never had this kind of chance,” Mohamed said.
He said jua kali artisans work under tough conditions and are sometimes looked down upon.
“In our midst, we have people with the required skills and knowledge to deliver top-quality work. Our people do a lot of hard work and with minimal tools because our purchasing power is low. This chance will help us uplift ourselves, equip our workshops and produce quality products of international standards,” Mohamed said.
John Karanja, Northeastern regional coordinator of affordable housing and market, said the county will receive Sh1 billion for housing projects alone.
The projects include construction of 408 housing units, which is about 40 per cent complete, building of 1,720-bed capacity hostels at Garissa University and construction of a modern market for Sh 288 million.
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 windows, steel doors, flash doors, landscaping works and painting works among others for the jua kali sector,” he said.
“We came here to onboard jua kali artisans into these works. It is a mutual understanding between the contractor and the juakali but more importantly is that the government is very deliberate that an item that has been earmarked for an artisan, must be undertaken by them.”
Garissa Township MP Dekow Mohamed urged the youth, especially plumbers electricians, welders and painters to take up the jobs opportunities to better their lives.
He thanked President William Ruto for giving out a direction requiring local artisans to be given opportunities to supply some materials for the housing projects, noting that it will not only provide job opportunities but also grow the local economy.
“I want to thank the President because this is the first affordable housing programe that has happened in this Town since independence. I want to encourage the jua kali guys to be prepared to fully maximise this opportunity,” the MP said.
“It is for them to grab them. Within this year, we will increase about 3,000 housing units for construction. So you can imagine the economic benefit that this will bring to us.”
by STEPHEN ASTARIKO
