Tharaka-Nithi County Service Delivery Committee (CSDC) has attributed delays in completing road projects on the failure to involve county engineers in the supervision of on-going works.
During a meeting chaired by Tharaka-Nithi County Commissioner Ms. Muzne Abdulatiff on Friday, the committee appealed to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) to involve their engineers on the ground in supervision of road works to hasten the construction of key infrastructure projects.
A Monitoring and Evaluation report by the Tharaka-Nithi Huduma Centre Manager Abdi Mohammed revealed that most of the contractors were far behind schedule with some having deserted altogether.
“More than half of the construction of the roads expected to be on progress have stalled with two of the contractors having deserted the construction areas. The resident engineers operate from outside the county leaving the work to contactors and their progress is thereby poorly supervised,” said Mohammed.
The report further revealed that all the road construction in the county have been given to only one contractor through tendering in Nairobi making it very difficult for the County engineer to intervene.
“The contracts should be awarded to different contractors to enhance competition because we cannot continue lobbying for more roads while the current ones are way too far from schedule. It would be better if the local engineer was involved in supervision,” said Ms. Abdulatiff.
She said the slow progress in construction of roads is painting the wrong image and exposing the government to uncalled for criticism from the members of the public who are wondering what has happened to the roads they were promised more than three years ago.
Ms. Abdulatiff took the opportunity to remind the County Heads of Departments who comprise the major part of the CSDC to work hand in hand with the county government in order to ensure service is delivered to wananchi.
She further reminded the committee members to take advantage of the Whatsapp social media platform to publicize their activities in the county and involve other relevant departments to make service delivery efficient and effective.
The CC outlined all the requirements of the Executive Order No. 3/2014 that includes the formation of the CSDC and the central role that the Ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government plays to ensure effective service to wananchi.
She hailed the County Huduma Centre manager and the Registration of Births and Deaths department for making the county a benchmark in their service delivery and added that there is no backlog of birth certificates in the county, a problem that is a nightmare in many other counties.
Ms. Abdulatiff concluded by reminding the Heads of Departments and other civil servants of their obligation to lead other citizens in showing patriotism to their country by attending national days like Jamuhuri day celebrations held at the county and sub-county levels.
By David Mutwiri
Engineers Blamed for Delays in Construction of Roads
