BY ALICE WAITHERA
Murang’a county commissioner Mohamed Barre urged residents on Thursday to stop frustrating government projects implemented in the county.
Barre said many projects have been frustrated by vandalism and numerous court cases causing long delays.
He cited the case of a contractor ordered to pay an Sh80 million fine after his project was halted by court order, delaying implementation.
High costs and delays are faced by any projects intended to provide services to residents, he said.
Speaking during a meeting with government officials in his office on Thursday, Barre said the national government is implementing development projects worth billions of shillings.
The Kenya Rural Roads Authority alone, he said, has 13 projects worth Sh 19 billion at various stages of construction.
Some road projects like the Mbombo Makuyu one have been completed to bitumen standards, he said.
The government is implementing numerous water projects, including Ithanga water supply worth Sh 1.2 billion, the Gatanga project (Sh 300 million), Murang’a community water supply (Sh 800 million), Gatango water supply (Sh 250 million) and the Kayahwe project (Sh 150 million).
“Kigumo subcounty alone is benefiting from Sh300 million water projects,"Barre added.
The Last Mile connectivity projects are about 90 per cent complete but are transformers and power cables are being vandalised.
He told residents that vandalism is hurting them.
“Some try to get power illegally and put fuses in the wrong places, causing transformers worth a lot of money to break down,” he said.
Those benefitting from projects, including health facilities and schools, should provide information about anyone interfering with them, Barre said.
He said it is the role of the security committee to ensure projects have sufficient protection, it is impossible to deploy police officers to every project.
Kenya Power Murang’a branch manager Harrison Kamau said his department has 500 transformers to implement Last Mile connectivity in the county.
“We are currently doing streetlighting and we have lit most shopping centres in the county,” he said.
