Garissa residents hit out at Kenha, Kura and Kera for sub-standard work

Agencies charged with the responsibility of building and maintaining roads in Garissa town have come under sharp criticism over alleged substandard jobs.

Speaking to the press in Garissa town, the National Livestock Marketing Council Chair, Dubat Amey said that over the years the roads agencies have not lived up to expectations when it comes to delivering quality work.

The three bodies charged with the responsibility of building and maintaining roads in the country are the Kenya National Highway Authority[KeNHA], the Kenya Urban Roads Authority[KURA] and the Kenya Rural Roads Authority[KERA].

Dubat who is also the chairman of the Garissa Farmers Federation said roads across the county were in a pathetic state.

He singled out the Kona Punda stretch along the Garissa Madogo road that has been washed away by floods a record four times in six months saying that this was a clear indication that the quality of work was below standard.

“I want to call out engineers and officials from KeNHA who seem not to be taking their job seriously. Otherwise, how do you explain a situation where the same section of the road is repaired three times in less than six months,” he said.

“The result of this is that the road keeps on being washed away affecting hundreds of Kenyans who use the road never to mention the millions that have been lost in in terms of revenue."

Dubat said that in the one month that the floods rendered the road impassable, pastoralists lost almost a billion since animals could not be transported to Nairobi.

He said the same situation is replicated on many roads within town and feeder roads saying that many have been washed away by floods blaming poor drainage systems.

“I am not a roads engineer but the little I know about road construction is that you must ensure that there are pathways and culverts otherwise it will be zero work without them,” he said.

He further took issue with the conduct of some officials from road agencies accusing them of always being away from their respective work stations only making technical appearances saying that they need to be in office and do what they are paid to do.

He called for the fastracking of the bridge along the Garissa-Nairobi highway saying that it was the only permanent solution to the problem.

Speaking in Garissa early last month during a mission to assess the flood situation, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua revealed plans to invest Sh1.2 billion to construct a new bridge.