The Presidential Service Delivery Unit has differed with the contractor in charge of the Chwele-Lwakhaka road upgrade over the slow pace of works.
The PSDU insisted that the Sh1.4 billion project is behind schedule and demanded it hastened. But the firm blamed the slow pace on bad weather and delayed payments. It said it is 97 per cent complete.
PSDU members who toured the site told the contractor to complete the project as the government negotiates to clear pending payments.
"We acknowledge there has been a delay in payment of the remaining balance, but the government insists on getting value for money. We are not impressed with some parts of the works and the delays,” Silvanus Onyango said.
He was accompanied by Western regional coordinator Anne Ngetich, the Bungoma county commissioner and departmental heads from the region. Onyango said the government will do its part but the contractor should also speed up the work and rectify areas they highlighted.
The government has paid Sh1.3 billion. The balance is Sh100 million. The road links Kenya and Uganda through Bungoma. The upgrade was to take two years but is now in its third.
Resident engineer Joseck Macharia, who represented the contractor, said they were slowed down in January, February, August and September in 2017 and 2018.
"We have tried our best but as you know we've had delayed payments from national government which we're still trying to push to enable us to complete the works,” he said.
He also blamed the last election for the delay but noted that the works were 97 completed. The pending works include the construction of access culverts and protection works, including top soiling, grassing, stone pitching and road marking.
The PSDU team said even though the road is a dual carriageway, a bridge in Wamono area could only allow one vehicle at a time.
The contractor, however, said dualling the bridge was not part of the contract. Regional coordinator Ngetich promised to raise the issue with the national government.
“In the meantime, do the proposals. We can’t have a single bridge for such a busy road that is key in trade between Uganda and Kenya,” she said.
Onyango picked holes in how the firm has finished parts of the project at the Kenya-Uganda border. He asked him to extend the work up to the border bridge and not the customs office. He warned that contractors will not be allowed to pocket money and leave works unfinished.
"This unit has been given the mandate by the President to ensure we follow up all the projects to ensure they are done to completion,” he said.
(Edited by F'Orieny)