Leaders from Vihiga County have been warned against politicising the affordable housing project but instead to give it political goodwill.
Speaking on Tuesday at the Vihiga Affordable Housing Project Phase 1 site, Vihiga County Commissioner Felix Watakila asked the area leaders and residents to support the project, saying it was going to empower them economically and socially.
Watakila said the affordable housing project employs youth who would have otherwise ruined their lives by consuming illicit brew.
He asked the supervisors to ensure that all workers maintain a high level of discipline, commitment, and hard work, cautioning them against allowing workers to come to work while drunk.
“This project is empowering our youth by providing them with employment so that they do not engage in anti-social ills, and it is also empowering the residents economically as they are also selling food to the workers,” said Watakila.
He refuted claims that workers were being paid low wages, plus the allegation that other workers were residents of other counties, as earlier reported in a section of the media, saying that that was propaganda from some people who were not supporting the project.
Vihiga County Director of Housing, Teresia Ooko, said that Vihiga affordable housing project phase 1 will cost Sh. 536,180,334.27 and will have a total of 220 housing units.
Ooko added that this project started on September 19, 2023, and is expected to be completed in 48 weeks. It is now at 25 per cent completion.
She said that the project has deployed 160 workers, of whom 78 are skilled and 82 are unskilled.
She said that another housing project that is in the planning stage, Vihiga Affordable Housing Project Phase 2, is expected to have 400 units and will be constructed opposite the phase 1 project.
Another project is the Vihiga police housing project at Vihiga Police Station, which will have 200 units.
She urged residents to register in the Boma Yangu App with Sh. 200 so that they can start saving money, which will help them easily buy houses when they are complete.
One of the casual workers, Edith Okong’o, commended the supervisors, saying they had given them protective devices to caution them from the risks of the construction industry.
By Maureen Imbayi
