The Nandi County Development Implementation Coordination Committee (CDICC) has urged a contractor to speed up the completion of on-going roadworks on the earmarked Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KERRA) roads within the county.
The roads include Chepterit- Kapkagaon -Moi University (23 .0 km), Himaki -Nandi Hills (17.0 km), Danger- Kimondi- Chemuswa (23.0km).
The roadworks to be carried out on the stated roads include upgrading to bitumen standards, repair and rehabilitation and performance based routine maintenance.
The road project was formerly contracted to M/s Civicon (K) Ltd in August 2016 but later assigned to China Railway Engineering Group 10 in November 2018 after the main contractor failed to deliver.
Led by the CDICC Chair Olaka Kutswa and PDU Director Timothy Kilimo, the team noted that the current contractor has already picked up from his predecessor though late by six months.
“At the moment, the Sh4. 3 billion project is at 37.33 percent and it is expected to be completed by December 2021,” resident engineer Walter Nyariki told the committee.
About the roadworks, the Chepterit Moi University link has its main works completed while the outstanding road furniture and proposed access culvert construction ison going.
On the Himaki- Nandi Hills road, splitting has been done on the entire road, drainage and culvert works done, stone pitching and scour checks completed as well as embarkment protection along areas with high fills.
The contractor was however put to task on why the Danger- Kimondi -Chemuswa road has not picked up.
“The status of this road has caused a nightmare for the users especially expectant women who have to cope with the bumpy road network as they struggle to get to hospital for checkup and treatment,” said CDICC Chair.
The contractor assured the committee that work begins immediately.
Eng. Nyariki cited a few challenges hindering the contractor’s works including heavy rainfall, relocation of utilities (electric poles) and unavailability of construction materials (gravel) and the delay in the payment of interim payment certificates that have affected the contractor’s cash flow.
By Bethsheba Abuya
