Laikipia Contractors’ Outcry over delayed payments

Nanyuki

KNA December 6, 2023,

KNA By Martin Munyi

Contractors working on National government projects in Laikipia have cited delays in part payments as the reason for stalled infrastructure development projects in the area.

The contractors told the County Implementation, Coordination and Management Committee (CICMC) while on a verification visit that delays in the completion of infrastructure projects witnessed in most parts of the area were a result of lack of the National government's failure to keep their end of the bargain by making payments promptly.

The CICMC noted with concern that some of the projects such as the tarmacking of the Naromoru-Lamuria road had remained incomplete for years after the contractor abandoned the works citing nonpayment for what he had already done.

Kariuki Ngechu, the resident engineer for the 20-kilometre road told the committee members that the contractor, Dickways Construction Limited, left the site over a year ago having done 86 percent of the work after he failed to receive part payment for the work done.

“The contractor cited cash flow problems a year ago and stopped the road works, he was to tarmac a two-kilometer section and also construct a bridge at another section before the road could be completed,” Eng. Ngechu told the committee.

The engineer added that the contractor was owed by the government Sh. 90 million for certified works on the road he had completed since 2021. The total contract sum for the road was Sh. 722,380, 140 signed in May 2016 and was scheduled for completion in November 2020.

Ngechu however told the committee chaired by the Laikipia East Deputy County Commissioner Patrick Muli that should the government release Sh. 50 million to the contractor and the remaining works would be completed.

The CICMC also inspected the Lamuria- Ngobit- Withare road where it noted that the tarmacking of the 50-kilometre stretch awarded to Jiangxi Youse Company Limited had been completed fully and the signage erected but the contractor was still owed Sh. 810 million despite the completion.

The project’s resident engineer Samuel Njigwa told the committee members that the delay in releasing payment for the funds had seen the sum accrue an interest of over Sh. 34 million. The contract sum for the road awarded in August 2017 was Sh. 2, 080,823,009.

The committee also visited the science complex at Laikipia University that stalled a year ago awarded to Skillman Contractors Limited where the project supervisor Willis Achieng’a revealed that the company was owed over Sh. 151 million by the government thus its inability to complete that project.

Muli noted that the University was the only institution of higher learning in Laikipia and therefore the need to hasten the completion of its infrastructure projects.

The committee resolved to escalate the completion delays witnessed on the stalled projects to higher levels of government for action to be taken.

Courtesy; KNA