Residents of Il Bissil and Maili Tisa in Kajiado County have protested against poor quality road works done by the contractor recarpeting the Kajiado- Namanga highway.
The residents expressed concern that the road which is hardly a year old had developed potholes with the stretch from Il Bissil to Namanga town turning into an accident black spot.
Joseph Sein, a village elder, said many accidents which resulted to loss of lives occurred at Ngatataek’ area along the stretch with motorists hitting the potholes while driving at a high speed.
He noted that some parts of the road were very slippery, worsening the situation when it rains and the loose chippings were also a great risk to motorists.
“This road was done poorly, the loose chippings and the big potholes have caused many accidents. The section from Il Bissil all the way to Namanga town must be redone,” said Sein.
The Kajiado- Namanga road was re-carpeted in 2019 with the aim of easing congestion and enhancing movement of people and goods from Tanzania to Kenya through the one-stop border post at Namanga.
The 65kms stretch from Il Bissil to Namanga town was constructed at a cost of Kshs.495million but started developing potholes a few months after its completion.
County Commissioner Joshua Nkanatha noted that only 20 kilometers of the road from Kajiado to Il Bissil town was recarpeted well with the rest done shoddily.
“From Kajiado to Bissil a distance of about 20kms the re-carpeting was done well, but from Bissil to Namanga the work done is completely shoddy, the contractor and resident engineer should be arrested as this is blatant theft of public resources,” he said.
Nkanatha warned contractors undertaking government projects against doing shoddy work. He said contractors must carry out their work professionally while ensuring quality and complete them in the set time frame or face termination of their contracts.
Speaking after inspecting various government projects in Kajiado Central accompanied by the County Development and Implementation Coordination committee (CDICC), the CC further put on notice the contractor undertaking construction of the Police Housing Project in Kajiado.
He said the contractor had delayed the project by three years and asked for an extension of three more months but currently there is no on-going work at the site. The low- cost housing project valued at Sh122 million was scheduled to be completed in January 2017 but currently only 75% of the work is complete.
Nkanatha said the government had allocated a lot of money to projects and all contractors must deliver within the set time frame. Further, he cautioned contractors who did not comply with required standards of possible black listing for future projects.
“Our mandate as a committee is to ensure all government projects are undertaken with the seriousness they deserve. We will not entertain contractors who deliver sub-standard works and fail to ensure the implementation of projects as per their scheduled time frames,” he said.
By Janet Rop
