Thwake dam contractor appeals High Court’s decision

Makueni

Sunday September 3, 2023

KNA by Patrick Nyakundi

China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC), the main contractor Thwake Multi-Purpose Dam has moved to challenge a High Court decision made on 22nd August 2023, awarding JTG Enterprise Limited Sh682.76 million for breach of contract.

During the ruling, Justice Alfred Mabeya from the Milimani High Court, Nairobi allowed JTG Enterprises Limited, which is a sub-contractor for the mega dam to auction CGGC’s assets to meet the cost they incurred, while doing excavation works on the spillway.

However, CGGC in a press release Friday, said the allegations by the subcontractor were misleading, false and holds no ground, adding that they have meticulously collected key evidence to debunk the inaccuracies and misleading information.

“The ongoing legal proceedings involving JTG Enterprises Limited, one of the subcontractors engaged in spillway excavation and slope drainage support works, stem from their failure to fulfil the terms stipulated in the subcontract agreement,” said Tang Yazhou, CGGC’s Authorized Representative and the General Manager of the Kenya Branch.

“Regrettably, JTG’s unilateral departure from the project site in May 2022, without authorization by the main contractor, the owner and the site engineer led to breach of contractual obligations,” lamented Yazhou in the press release.

He further accused JTG of submitting an inaccurately prepared geotechnical analysis report that was not supported by scientific exploration methodologies that raises significant concerns about the veracity of their claims.

“This report erroneously concluded that all excavated materials, totaling 7 million cubic meters, were composed solely of hard rock. Notably, this claim has been refuted by SMEC, the Project Consultant Engineer,” he observed.

The High Court awarded the Kenyan firm the monies arising from the supplementary agreement, which the Chinese company had failed to remit on “erroneous contention,” that amounted to variation of the sub-contract.

Last week, Water Secretary Eng. Samuel Alima said the government was closely monitoring and fast-tracking the construction of the mega dam to enhance food security in the Lower Eastern Region.

Alima was happy with the progress of the works which was at 84.4 percent completion, noting that the finalization of the first phase deadline of 6th February 2024 will be met as scheduled.

The Government of Kenya and the African Development Bank (AfDB) through the Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation is implementing this Vision 2030 Flagship project to fulfil the long-term country’s development in areas of water, agriculture and energy.

The programme, comprises a multi-purpose dam that will provide water supply, hydropower generation and irrigation component, besides regulating the flow of River Athi downstream of the dam for flood control and drought mitigation.

Once complete, the dam will also supply water to Konza Technopolis City, besides serving over 1.2 million residents of Makueni, Kitui and Machakos counties.

Courtesy ; K. N. A