The Government will only approve payments for contractors who will adhere to construction standards while engaging in their work.
Lugari Sub-County Deputy County Commissioner Moses Gicharu while speaking at Luanda-Lugari Secondary School while monitoring Competence Based Curriculum classrooms, warned that some contractors were compromising with safety standards of the classrooms and that they will not be paid until the spotted errors are corrected.
Gicharu agreed that there was pressure to complete construction of CBC classrooms, but that does not mean contractors should hurriedly finish the work, while disregarding quality and safety of the buildings.
The deputy county commissioner said that the Sub-County CBC Implementation and Monitoring Committee was keen on the construction works to avoid collapse of the buildings in future.
“Our committee is comprised of Public Works Engineer and other technical officials who are advising us accordingly, on whether the construction works were safe for our children and teachers or not,” Gicharu said.
He said that if the construction engineers advise that quality of work and safety standards had been compromised during the course of construction, then payments won’t be approved until the works are re-done to the desired standards.
“I am asking the contractors to always stick to the building standards and the codes of regulations in both government and private construction works,” Gicharu added.
Gicharu said the contractors were fully aware of the consequences of not following the building’s standards and they should always uphold the construction standards as recommended by national and international building and construction bodies.
At the same time, the DCC said that contractors who have won tenders to either construct new buildings or carry out government buildings refurbishments should ensure quality standards are never compromised.
He said his office together with other Departments, Ministries and Agencies representatives were keen to ensure the government agenda and other safety measures are adhered to.
Gicharu together with CBC Implementation and Monitoring team were touring CBC constructed classrooms within Lugari Sub-County, while ensuring children and teachers will be safe while using them.
By Geoffrey Satia
