Residents of Kalamba in Makueni county have threatened to stop rehabilitation of Kyamela bridge demanding the bill of quantities and formation of a public management committee to supervise the work.
The bridge that connects Emali and Wote town, the county headquarters, through Emali-Ukia road was swept away by floods last October.
Fearing the rains will come before it is rebuilt, the residents had mobilised resources to repair the bridge on their own after the national government dragged its feet.
“We had assembled building materials to repair the bridge on our own but a contractor who is not clear on the scope of work he is assigned to do arrived a day before we had set to commence the work,” said Lazarus Ng’olota, the Kalamba community chairman.
He said without clear information on the scope of work, who had given the contract and a public management committee to supervise, rehabilitation of the bridge could be poorly done.
Former Makueni MCA Francis Mutuku accused elected leaders and those involved in rehabilitating the bridge of insincerity.
Mutuku who led in mobilisation of 545 bags of cement and other building materials from well-wishers to rebuild the bridge said they will stop the work if the contract is not open on what exactly will be done in the rehabilitation.
He said the rush to send a contractor on site was to avert humiliation of those involved and could lead to poor work.
“What we are seeing here is disappointing. With a contractor on site who is not clear on what he was assigned to do, it means the bridge will not last,” said the former Kilili-Kalamba MCA.
When Makueni MP Daniel Maanzo visited to inspect destruction caused by floods a day after the bridge was swept last year, he said the National Assembly had set aside Sh15 billion for tarmacking the entire road.
Speaking to the Star on Sunday, Maanzo said there was some money set aside for rehabilitation of the bridge through Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA).
He however blamed the contractor for starting the project without involving members of the community.
“I have told them time and again that they should do public consultation before they start any project, but we have called a public meeting on Monday at the site to address the arising issues,” said Maanzo.
“It is when the engineer is expected to answer the question of the bill of quantities,” he added.
Edited by Henry Makori
