The National Construction Authority (NCA) has intensified its plans of creating a centre of excellence named Centre for Construction Industry Development (CCID) in a move aimed at offering training, research and advisory.
According to the Executive Director of NCA Maurice Akech,the move to put up the program which will be based in Konza City is in line with one of their functions to develop and build capacity in the construction industry in Kenya.
“We have been allocated three parcels of land in Konza and that is the place where the institute is supposed to be built.The centre is going to offer support for East Africa and beyond. We have concluded the feasibility studies, done the architectural designs, prepared the bill of quantities and onboarded environmental consultants to do the green reviews.As a regulator, we advocate for social and environmental sustainability. The next stage is groundbreaking” he wrote
Speaking in 2020 during the site visit by then Principal Secretary for State Department of Public Works Major General (Rtd) Dr. Gordon Kihalangwa,former Chief Executive Office of Konza Technopolis Development Authority (KoTDA) Eng. John Tanui said more than 40 % of the 145 parcels under Phase One of the project had already been taken up.
“Phase One of the Technopolis has spaces of about 145 parcels available for development. As of now we have over 40 % of these parcels already taken up,” he said.
According to Tanui who is currently the Principal Secretary for ICT and the Digital Economy,investors at the Konza Technopolis are drawn from both public sector and private entities. The investors include a South African specialized hospital, an American Hospital, Software development companies, Real estate developers including offices, hotel and residential houses.
He also said that Konza was working with the State department of urban development and the director of physical planning in collaboration with the counties of Kajiado, Machakos and Makueni, to have a joint team to guide developments within the 10Km buffer zone at the Technopolis.
“It is very important for us to see that we add value to this 10km buffer zone by outlining one thing that will work to ensure approval is aligned to the Master Plan of the Konza Technopolis and planning of the three counties, for the mutual benefit of all,” he added
So far,progress has been made on the horizontal infrastructure, which has taken into account aspects such as drainage, water and roads.
The key objectives of the center will be to establish a conducive environment to support inter-disciplinary basic and applied construction related research as well as provide a hub for knowledge, technology transfer and research diffusion to the construction industry and other allied sectors.
