The national government has moved to complete the stalled Sh670 million Nyandarua county headquarters.
Construction of the four-storey office complex started in 2017 but the contractor left the site in 2018.
David Waititu, an architect in the State department of Public Works, said Interior CS Fred Matiang’i has directed that the project be completed in the next one year as instructed by the President.
During a tour of Nyandarua county on June 15, 2020, Matiang’i assured the county that the Sh670 million project will resume construction immediately.
The project is jointly funded by the state and the Nyandarua government at the ratio of 70 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively.
Nyandarua county headquarters is one of the projects that during the last election campaign, the President pledged would be completed.
“The instructions by the CS is that the project has to continue due to instructions from elsewhere,” Waititu said.
He spoke in Ol Kalou during the official handover of the site to the new contractor – Solitaire Constructions – from the initial contractor, High Point Agencies Ltd. The project was reassigned following negotiations between the state and the two contractors after High Point Agencies failed to deliver.
Waititu said that even with the reassignment, the contract terms will not be varied, hence there should be no worry that issues of financing may emerge. He said contractors have committed themselves to having the office complex ready for occupation by June 2021.
To avoid issues of delays, he said, inspections and meetings to evaluate progress and address challenges will be held every two weeks for the first six months.
Nyandarua Governor Francis Kimemia said the new contractor and those who will be undertaking other contracts in Nyandarua will be accorded maximum support by his administration. He urged contractors to report to him directly should they face frustrations from any county official.
Kimemia regretted that in the past, most projects in Nyandarua stalled due to interference and extortion by leaders from the county.
“We may be blaming the contractors, but when they come here, I as the governor, for example, demand a 10 per cent or 15 per cent kickback. These extortionists want to be paid before work is done. The contractors get broke and move away from the site,” he said
Kimemia said contractors should be given room to do their work professionally without being troubled. He said that should there be any agreement about kickbacks with anyone, the spoils should be shared in the bush but only after quality work has been delivered.
“If we sustain the culture of extortion, contractors will avoid Nyandarua for places where they work in peace. I am not happy that our projects are getting stuck right left and centre. I want to assure all contractors that I am going to protect them," Kimemia said.
He said Nyandarua leaders need to ask themselves why the same contractors who fail to complete projects in the county do excellent jobs elsewhere.
The governor said other major projects, including a seven-floor complex at J.M Hospital, Engineer and Ndaragwa hospitals and the potato processing plant, among other projects, will soon be launched.
Edited by A.N
