Isiolo to get international airport
By ALI ABDI
Isiolo could one day be a bustling city with its own international airport serving the tourism and film industries.
The Government has formed a high-powered taskforce to develop the frontier town into a resort city. The 20-member team, chaired by Head of Public Service Mr Francis Muthaura, first met on August 11 at Harambee House in Nairobi.
According to a confidential report shown to The Standard by a member of the team, they have only a few weeks left to compile a report to be presented to the Cabinet in January next year.
The task-force includes three permanent secretaries — from the Transport, Roads and Public Works, and Tourism and Wildlife ministries — as well as the heads of the Kenya Wildlife Services, Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Tourism Board and Ewaso Nyiro North Development Authority. The chairman and clerk of Isiolo County Council are also in the team.
In a letter dated August 4, Muthaura said the Government is keen to develop the town.
"Isiolo has great potential to contribute to national development because of its strategic location," he said.
While Isiolo is the leading tourist destination in the Northern Circuit, it is still considered a little off the beaten path.
"This is where the tarmac road ends," writes a reviewer for online tourist guide Go2Africa.com. "The frontier town marks the start of Kenya’s north-eastern area of desert scrub, mountains and Lake Turkana."
With its three game parks, Central Isiolo has several luxurious safari camps and tourist-class lodges, among them Samburu Serena and Sarova Shaba. It is also adjacent to Samburu Game Reserve, Meru National Park and other private wildlife conservancies.
Muthaura said the Government is also keen to develop the film industry in the district. Shaba National Park is dubbed ‘Kenya’s Hollywood’ having attracted numerous film-makers over the years. More than ten major films including To Walk With Lions and The White Maasai, as well as TV shows like Survivor Africa have been shot there. Shaba was also home to the world-famous lioness Elsa reared by Joy and George Adamson, the subjects of the movie Born Free.
Muthaura said the tarmacking of Isiolo-Moyale road would connect the town with Nairobi, other neighbouring towns and to northern Kenya. A proposed international airport at the town is also meant to further boost the growth of the town. With its proximity to towns around Mt Kenya, the proposed airport is expected to serve Meru districts, Laikipia, Embu and Nyeri.
Other proposed facilities include hotels, casinos, golf courses, polo and camel derby stadiums. Camel riding and derby already exist in the area but Sarova Shaba plans to set up a golf course that straddles the Ewaso Nyiro River.
The task-force have planned to visit game parks, existing game lodges, the Isiolo-Moyale road and the sites of the proposed Isiolo airport later this month.
Isiolo could one day be a bustling city with its own international airport serving the tourism and film industries.
The Government has formed a high-powered taskforce to develop the frontier town into a resort city. The 20-member team, chaired by Head of Public Service Mr Francis Muthaura, first met on August 11 at Harambee House in Nairobi.
According to a confidential report shown to The Standard by a member of the team, they have only a few weeks left to compile a report to be presented to the Cabinet in January next year.
The task-force includes three permanent secretaries — from the Transport, Roads and Public Works, and Tourism and Wildlife ministries — as well as the heads of the Kenya Wildlife Services, Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Tourism Board and Ewaso Nyiro North Development Authority. The chairman and clerk of Isiolo County Council are also in the team.
In a letter dated August 4, Muthaura said the Government is keen to develop the town.
"Isiolo has great potential to contribute to national development because of its strategic location," he said.
While Isiolo is the leading tourist destination in the Northern Circuit, it is still considered a little off the beaten path.
"This is where the tarmac road ends," writes a reviewer for online tourist guide Go2Africa.com. "The frontier town marks the start of Kenya’s north-eastern area of desert scrub, mountains and Lake Turkana."
With its three game parks, Central Isiolo has several luxurious safari camps and tourist-class lodges, among them Samburu Serena and Sarova Shaba. It is also adjacent to Samburu Game Reserve, Meru National Park and other private wildlife conservancies.
Muthaura said the Government is also keen to develop the film industry in the district. Shaba National Park is dubbed ‘Kenya’s Hollywood’ having attracted numerous film-makers over the years. More than ten major films including To Walk With Lions and The White Maasai, as well as TV shows like Survivor Africa have been shot there. Shaba was also home to the world-famous lioness Elsa reared by Joy and George Adamson, the subjects of the movie Born Free.
Muthaura said the tarmacking of Isiolo-Moyale road would connect the town with Nairobi, other neighbouring towns and to northern Kenya. A proposed international airport at the town is also meant to further boost the growth of the town. With its proximity to towns around Mt Kenya, the proposed airport is expected to serve Meru districts, Laikipia, Embu and Nyeri.
Other proposed facilities include hotels, casinos, golf courses, polo and camel derby stadiums. Camel riding and derby already exist in the area but Sarova Shaba plans to set up a golf course that straddles the Ewaso Nyiro River.
The task-force have planned to visit game parks, existing game lodges, the Isiolo-Moyale road and the sites of the proposed Isiolo airport later this month.
posted by Mwananchi at 4:12 PM
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