The Principal Secretary, State Department for Water and Sanitation in the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation, Dr. Paul Rono, has issued a stern warning to contractors in the water sector who do not finish projects on time, on good quality and cost.
He said that such contractors will have their contracts terminated and given to others with good reputation to complete the projects so that Kenyans can get water services on time.
The PS who was speaking during assessment of water projects in Uasin Gishu when he terminated an approximate Sh 1.5 billion contract of Kipkaren which is a key water project in Eldoret following the contractor’s delay which caused the project to stall for about two years.
He revealed that he will be going across the country to inspect all water projects to make sure they are on course and that if any is found to have stalled because of issues to do with contractors, those contractors will be blacklisted and at the same time their contracts terminated.
“Those contractors who fail to complete their projects on time, will be blacklisted and at the same time their contracts will be terminated because Kenyans need water, they have waited for so long and money is being paid by the government,” he warned.
The PS noted that it is a privilege for one as a contractor to get to work for the government and for the people of Kenya and that when they finish work on time, they will be considered for another one.
“We don’t have a problem with you as a government, if you complete your work on time and with good quality. But if you are a cartel in the corridors of the ministry of water thinking that you can change the specifications or you can change the timelines or you can vary the contract that one is over, your day is over,” indicated Dr. Rono.
“And if you keep on doing that, we are going to blacklist you and deal with you because we cannot just let Kenyans suffer because of contractors who don’t finish their work on time and they continuously vary contracts and then the government is paying,” warned the PS.
By Ekuwam Sylvester
