Wang’uru residents upbeat about New Face of Town as construction of cabro parkings take shape.

Residents of Wang’uru town in Kirinyaga County are upbeat about the new face of the urban centre as construction of cabro parking and driveways take shape. The residents and traders are now attesting to the aesthetic beauty awaiting the entire town once the project is completed before end of the year.

The ongoing cabro paving works which were launched in October last year by Governor Anne Waiguru will raise the standards of the once dusty town to level of other four towns; Kerugoya, Kutus, Kianyaga and Kagio already fitted with cabro. The project which is county government flagship project will cover laying of approximately 25,000 square meters of cabro which will create about 600 car parking slots. It also involves improvement of the drainage system. It will cover both sides of the Wanguru-Gathigiriri road starting from the T-junction at the highway to Mwea Rice Mills near Wang’uru stadium. It will also cover both sides of the highway from Sidian Bank to Gathigiriri road junction. Wang’uru played host to Mashujaa Day national celebrations last year, an event that was attended by more than 3,000 guests. Its roads have already been upgraded to tarmac.

Grace Njeru, a hardware shop operator in the town is a beneficiary of the cabro parkings constructed from Highway junction- Wang’uru stadium road. She says that the cabros have totally changed the outlook of the area and created a conducive trading environment to the locals as well as outsiders. She said that the area would be rendered impassable during the rainy seasons while it would be extremely dusty during the sunny seasons, a situation that kept away customers and negatively impacted on businesses.

“Before these cabros were laid, we could even go for week without making any sales since customers used to shun this part of the town, but now business is picking and we are registering better sales.” Said Grace. She added that the cabros have also enhanced the hygiene standards and beauty of one of the busiest and fastest growing towns in Kirinyaga. Paul Kamau, another trader in the town said that the residents are very happy with the county government’s initiative in transforming the busy town. “Upgrading of the town’s infrastructure will highly contribute to its economic growth and attract more investors. This project is the game changer for Wang’uru town, the town will attract more and more people,” Kamau added.

Boda boda operators have also hailed the development noting that their business is now booming given that areas previously shunned by customers have now been opened up by the cabro pavements and parking lots. Zachary Munene, one of the bodaboda operators, observed that they previously used to operate under muddy conditions whenever it rained making it hard for customers to seek their services. He said that the boda boda fraternity is among the main beneficiaries of the cabros. “We are grateful that Wang’uru is getting a facelift, the initiative to modernize our town was long overdue. I can’t wait to see how the entire town will look like with cabro parking and driveways everywhere,” said Munene. Other beneficiaries include rice farmers delivering rice to the mills, rice mills operators, rice traders, and general traders among others.

Governor Waiguru says the project is twice as big as the Kerugoya town parking project that was also completed by the county government last year. She said that her administration has been committed to ensuring that there is equitable development in all parts of the county and therefore the Wang’uru project was a timely response to the growing needs of urbanization in the county.

In the other towns, the cabro projects involve construction of car parks, pedestrian pavements as well as storm water management systems. They covered about 25,000 square meters cabro and created more than 800 car parking slots. The governor said that the facelift is part of county government’s plan to turn the urban centers into economic hubs by improving trading experience through provision of conducive environment for transacting business.

The town serves as the major commercial centre for the tenants living in various villages in the expansive Mwea Irrigation settlement scheme. Kirinyaga Members of County Assembly (MCAs) have already adopted a motion to have the town join become the second municipality after Kerugoya-Kutus.