Elementaita residents, contractor clash over road repairs

Residents of Elementaita Ward in Gilgil sub-county in Nakuru County have clashed with a contractor over the upgrading of roads in the area.

The residents of Gwa Shati, Njeru and Munanda said the contractor moved to the site to upgrade the 1.9km earth road which is part of the 9.3km of the road earmarked for upgrading without finding out from them the critical sections that needed to be upgraded.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

“We approved this project during the public participation in 2017 and Sh3.5million was allocated to the project but instead of asking us which sections of the road are in poor conditions, the contractor has moved in his machines and started the work,” said Mr Mutungi Mburu, a resident.

They said according to the instructions from the county, there must be a site meeting attended by the area MCA, sub county administrator, roads engineer and the contractor before work begins.

The residents demanded to be involved since a section of the same road had been upgraded by the funds from Gilgil Constituency Development Fund (CDF).

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They also claimed that Kenya Roads Authority had also upgraded a section of the same road.

“These two sections that have separately been upgraded must not form part of the work by the contractor,” said Mr Samuel Nyandieka, a resident of Kwa Njeru.

UPGRADING

On Wednesday, area Ward Rep Moses Ndungu Kamau said the contractor did not adhere to the agreement.

“The contractor has started assembling construction materials such as murram yet the materials have not gone through the laboratory test to establish whether they are suitable for road upgrading in the area,” said Mr Ndungu.

The MCAs denied claims by the residents that he was colluding with the contractor to do a shoddy work.

 “I have come here at the site with the Roads Engineer in charge of Gilgil sub county to prove that I am not part of this shoddy work scheme by the contractor,” said Mr Ndungu.

Gilgil Sub-County Roads engineer Simon Nginga assured the residents that the contractor will be supervised to ensure he does a good job.   

MOBILISE RESIDENTS

“The materials to be used in this road will be taken to the laboratory in Nakuru to establish whether they are fit for the upgrading of the road,” said Mr Nginga.

The representative of Japonika Events contractors, Mr Benson Mwaniki said it was not the company’s responsibility to mobilise the residents.

 “Let the area MCA, ward administrator and the roads engineer convene the meeting and involve the contractor. I am ready to carry out the work to their satisfaction,” said Mr Mwaniki.