The Elgeyo Marakwet County Commissioner (CC), John Korir, has called on government officers to collaborate with each other and share information, for ease of implementation of government projects.
The CC advised officers who encounter obstacles concerning a government department during the implementation of projects to consult at a personal level with the officer in question before resorting to addressing each other through official correspondences.
Speaking when he chaired the National Government Development -County Implementation and Coordination Management Committee (NG-CICMC) meeting in Iten, Korir regretted that most government projects have stalled, costing the task payer millions of shillings due to lack of communication between government officers.
Kenya Rural Roads Authority (Kerra) Regional Coordinator, Eng. David Kibet told the meeting that a misunderstanding between KERRA and the Kenya Forest Service, which led to a delay in the construction of Tenden -Kibigos road, has seen the kilometres which were to be constructed reduce from 28km to 24km.
The delay, he said has seen the cost of materials escalate thus the kilometers which were to be done on the Sh1.3 billion, had to be reduced.
Eng. Kibet, however, said the Authority had completed the upgrading and gravelling of six security roads along the Kerio Valley, adding that they will be constructing three bridges on the Kerio River, which will connect the roads to Baringo and West Pokot counties.
Eng. Philemon Kipkoech from the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha), said that the government would in the next two years, embark on the upgrading of the Biretwo-Tot Road to bitumen standard, adding that it will join the Tot-Kopasi-Kilangata road at Chesongoch.
He expressed concern over the encroachment of road reserves, saying farmers were planting crops up to the edge of the roads, adding that vandalism of road signs was rampant, but said they will be conducting sensitization meetings with Chiefs to address the issue.
The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) Regional Manager, Engineer Edwin Limo, noted that while Iten does not have roads under the Authority, they were maintaining roads within the municipality, adding that they had completed the road serving Lilies Estate, within Iten town.
The Engineer said lack of funding for most of the roads had slowed their progress, saying most of the contractors had stopped working due to non-payment.
The National Environmental Management Authority (Nema), County Co-ordinator, Stephen Kimutu, expressed concern over the late submission of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Reports, saying the Report should be submitted before a contractor comes to site.
He said it was sad that at times it took complaints from wananchi for the department to know about the existence of a project.
By Alice Wanjiru
