WRC: Presidential Pavilion to be ready a week to the event

It is a 24-hour workmanship at the proposed Presidential Pavilion situated at the Naivasha based Word Rally Championship Service Park bay as organisers of the WRC Rally Championship race against time to get everything in place ahead of the event.

When Citizen Digital toured the facility, on Friday evening, it was a race against time as contractors supervised the ongoing works at the Kenya Wildlife Service Training Institute (KWSTI) grounds.

The VVIP Pavilion is expected to be completed one week prior to the WRC event scheduled to take place from June 24. A VIP lounge, a terrace overlooking the park and a service kitchen are some of the structures within the building.

The one storey pavilion will host the Head of State who is the patron of the event among other high end attendees including the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) President.

The Service Park is also being expanded to conform to the new coronavirus measures.

Speaking to Citizen Digital on Friday, the WRC Safari Rally chief executive officer Phineas Kimathi said the additional works were necessitated by the third wave of the disease.

He cited appendix that defines Covid-19 protocols as the main reason for the expansion plant.

Kimathi expressed satisfaction with the work progress, terming the return of the WRC as a milestone.

He said the FIA president will be in attendance during the flagging off of the rallying event, which is making a comeback after a 19-years hiatus.

He hailed President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration for playing a pivotal role in ensuring that the event was held in the country after close to two decades.

Kimathi talked of efficient preparation but was quick to note that restricted travelling for international visitors, terming a major drawback for the country’s tourism prospects and is upbeat about the economic value of the event, alluding to more than Sh6 billion being injected into the economy directly.

Kimathi remained optimistic of a successful event despite the challenges posed by the coronavirus, hopeful about the Covid-19 vaccines will offer an extra cushion to drivers and spectators.