Workers at the Chinese Railway Number 5 Company in Turkana on Monday halted construction of the Lodwar -Loichangamatak A1 road following an alleged assault on a road inspector.
The workers said that four Chinese men attached to the company constructing Lodwar - Loichangamatak road on Friday attacked Chief Road Inspector Rodgers Imasia and injured him.
Workers claimed that Imasia was attacked on claims that he did not approve the materials that were used on the road construction because they were of substandard quality.
Led by their chairman Dida Wilberforce, the workers condemned the attack of their colleague and urged police to speed up investigations and arrest the assailants.
Dida decried the laxity of the police in arresting the assailants.
“There is no way we can work with people who frustrate and attack us in our daily duties. If it was a case where a casual worker had attacked the Chinese they would have reacted faster,” he said.
Bakari Etaan, chairman for transport at Chinese Railway Number 5 Company, said it was clear the Chinese had planned the attack on Imasia.
“It’s the mandate of the road inspector to approve the materials to be used for construction. If he rejects the substandard materials, it’s unlawful to attack him,” Etaan said.
Simon Koono complained that the Chinese use abusive language while addressing them at work.
(Edited by O. Owino)
