Little-known Debroso gets second Thika highway job
A little-known construction firm has won a second deal worth Sh754.4 million for maintenance of Thika-Kenol highway, firming its grip on contracts to look after the key road, which links Nairobi to central Kenya.
The firm, Debroso Construction Company Limited first shot into the limelight two years ago when it was awarded a Sh1 billion contract to keep the Nairobi-Ruiru section of the Sh31 billion Nairobi-Thika highway under 24-hour surveillance and repair it on behalf of the Kenya National Highways Authority (Kenha).
Documents seen by Nation show that the company has been awarded a new deal to maintain two more sections of the thoroughfare under Kenha’s control. The first road section starts at the Delmonte area and ends at Kenol, covering a total length of 11 kilometres (km) in one direction and another 22km of dual carriage.
The second 9.4km section, also known as the old Murang’a road, starts at Delview and joins the main Thika-Kenol highway.
Debroso beat three rivals to the deal. They included Prime Auto & General Trading Enterprises, Four Way Construction Company Limited, and Buildlink Development Limited.
Only Debroso made it through the preliminary evaluation stage of the contract bidding and was later awarded a 75 per cent score in the technical evaluation — surpassing the minimum pass mark.
Bid records also show that the successful bidder quoted the second lowest fee compared to the rest.
Prime Auto & General Trading Enterprises quoted Sh688.55 million, Four Way Construction Company (Sh905.67 million), and Buildlink Development (Sh783.37 million).
The 12-lane, 40km thoroughfare between Nairobi and Thika is critical for the reduction of gridlock in the capital city.
The road was built by three Chinese companies: China Wu Yi, Sinohydro and Sheng Li.
Unlock the gridlock
The government is also expanding the section between Kenol and Marua through Sagana into a dual carriage as part of an effort to unlock the gridlock of vehicles either exiting or entering the Nairobi-Thika highway, which is part of the Mombasa -Nairobi-Addis Ababa Road Corridor.
It is anticipated that improvement of the road will ease the movement of goods from the Port of Mombasa to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, and vice versa. BY DAILY NATION

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