Contactors ordered to complete government projects on time

Contractors undertaking various government projects in Kirinyaga have been asked to complete the project on time.

Central Regional Commissioner Esther Maina said nobody would be allowed to dilly-dally with the projects especially this being an election year.

Maina, who was in Kirinyaga for the first time since her elevation to the region said elections should not interfere with the completion of the projects. “It does not matter the political affiliations, government projects must go on and be completed on time,” Maina said.

She said contractors must also engage the locals in the provision of manual labor, saying once the contractors move out of sight, the locals will own up the project.

Maina took issue with representatives of the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) for the delay in the completion of upgrading road project in Mwea town. The project road located in Mwea consists of upgrading 13 kilometers of carriageway to Bitumen standard.

The engineer present told the commissioner that the Sh 881, 640, 233 commenced on 14^th August 2020 and was at 42.7 percent complete.

The projected date of completion according to KURA officers remains 10 September 2020 indicating that the contractor was behind schedule.

“You must stop going to bed with these contactors and provide enhanced supervision to ensure the end of the project within the stipulated time,” Maina told the KURA officers.

She said the officers have no reason to give as to why the town improvement projects were lagging behind. “We want to see value for money; the members of the public intended to benefit from the project must start profiting as soon as possible,” she said

Earlier Kirinyaga County Commissioner Jim Njoka had raised the concern that residents of Mwea were concerned over the incomplete project.

Njoka said the contractor should up his game and make sure he completed the project before the rainy season if he is to assist the community intended to benefit from the project.

“We are now in 2022, and the project was supposed to be completed in 2020, how  can you  explain this delay having been provided with the finding from the national government “

He said the project must be completed without further delay.

Some of the challenges given for the delay of the projects, according to Antony Kiiai included lack of nearby hand-packing stones, relocation of services like electricity poles and waterlines within the construction corridor.

The RC also toured a considerable number of water projects initiated by the national government in Kirinyaga County.

Among the mega water projects the team inspected are Kerugoya Kutus water bulk supply in Gichugu and Kerugoya-Kutus sewer plant in Mwea. Both projects are worth Sh1.1 billion and Sh 500 million shillings respectively.

Engineer Philip Gichuki, the chief executive officer of the Tana Water Works Development agency said the water projects were at 94 percent complete.

To that end, the RC said they were satisfied with the work delivered so far. The project that has lagged behind is 85 percent, which is equally impressive. “We hope by April all contractors on-site will have done their part so that the community can start getting value for the projects,” she said.

Once complete the Kerugoya-Kutus water bulk supply is expected to serve over 350,000 households across the county while the 33-Kilometer sewer system plant will be of service to 10,000 households in Kerugoya and Kutus.