Contractor blamed as Madogo water shortage persists

Residents and the leadership of Madogo in Bangale Subcounty Tana River County have taken issue with the slow pace at which the contractor tasked with rehabilitating the Madogo water supply is implementing the project.

Madogo, a first-growing town centre about five kilometres from Garissa has lacked water for more than nine months.

This is after floods swept away the main pipes supplying water from Mororo to the town Centre. Also destroyed were boreholes in Mororo.

Addressing the press in Madogo yesterday, area MCA Juma Ali Dido said the contractor was awarded the Sh35 million rehabilitation works in February which he ought to have completed by June.

Dido said efforts to reach the contractor have been fruitless.

He now contemplates summoning the contractor, the CEC Water, and the chief officer of Water to shed more light.

“Area residents have blamed me for failing to manage the project as an elected leader. I, however, want to exonerate myself from any blame. Negligence squarely lies with the client department,” he said.

"The first time I reached out to the CEC water and the chief officer on the phone, they both assured me the works would be completed in a week,” Dido said.

“I tried reaching them again last month and got the same assurance. This has been the language and I'm contemplating summoning them before the county assembly,” he added.

Isnino Hassan, a resident of Bula Baraka, said they have been forced to trek for almost five kilometres in search of the precious commodity wondering why it has taken too long to complete the project that was supposed to have ended by August.

Isnino, a mother of five, said they trek through the thicket, putting them at risk of attacks from wild animals calling on relevant authorities to fastrack the project.

Speaking on the phone, Tana River Water Chief Officer Abdulkadir Sirad defended the contractor, saying the second round of floods destroyed all the work that had been done.

“This is one project that I have been personally monitoring closely. I have been to Madogo more than three times since June. The contractor got challenges delivering on time due to the March second wave of floods that took him back to square one,” he said.

Sirad said he was optimistic Madogo residents will be reconnected to water in the next two weeks calling for patience from both leaders and residents.

“It is unfortunate that the residents have had to be subjected to this suffering of going without water for such a long period. They have the right to complain. But the good news is that they wil soon have water,” he said.