The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) is set to lengthen the existing runway at Homa Bay Airport also known as Kabunde Airstrip from the current 1.2km to 1.7km to accommodate larger aircraft’s.
This comes four years after the Authority carried out similar work as part of the airport modernization at a cost of US $1.9m. The runway was extended from 790 m to 1.2 km and an apron was constructed. In addition, fencing around the airport was reinforced and the road between Homa Bay and Rongo, which is used to access the airport, was tarmacked.
Acquisition of land
KAA is set to present a new list of parcels of land to be acquired for the upgrade of the airport to the National Land Commission (NLC), categorized as either whole or partial acquisition, for valuation.
This will be the third land valuation exercise the NLC is undertaking for the upgrade of the airstrip. The first valuation indicated that the cost of compulsory land acquisition would be US $410,376 while the second valuation indicated the cost would be US $1.03m, a 60.1% increase.
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Other documents to be submitted
In addition to the list of the parcels of land to be acquired, according to Transport Secretary James Macharia, KAA is also required to provide the registry map indicating the current acreage of the airstrip together with the area to be acquired.
The Authority begun the process of acquiring the approximately 141 acres of land in Kabunde about seven years ago. The process has however not concluded following disputes on figures arrived at after valuation and delays in the succession process for issuance of Grant of Letters of Administration for affected landowners.
