CMC di Ravenna, the firm which was awarded the Itare dam contract, has dismissed claims it is responsible for the slow pace in implementation of the project.
A report filed by the Departmental Committee on Environment and Natural Resources embarked on inquiring into the Status of the Dams in the country, including Itare.
According to the findings, there were no activities going on at the construction site.
The committee said that the foundation had been laid and excavation work was done up to 90 per cent.
It concluded that 30 per cent of the project was completed. and that there was a need to resume the project in order to avert huge losses of taxpayers' money.
But through Amsterdam and Partners LLP, CMC di Ravenna on Friday said that there was a need to consider what hindered its performance.
The company said it was forced to suspend the project due to the systemic delays of payments.
"This resulted in the generation of contractual financial charges for delayed payments, still not paid up to the current date, amounting to more than 4 million US dollars, and, eventually, forcing the Contractor to suspend works in September 2018 at RVWWDA’s cost," part of CMC di Ravenna statement reads.
It said that the Rift Valley Water Works Development Agency (RVWWDA) failed to obtain the necessary Environmental License and Permits for the execution of the Project on time.
The contractor added that it suffered from a lack of access to the project site and partial site handover from the employer due to delayed inter-ministerial discussions on zoning and mapping.
It further said that RVWWDA issued an incomplete and inapplicable design for the construction of the dam to CMC di Ravenna, which resulted in enormous additional costs.
Water Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui was questioned on December 4 for over five hours over misappropriation of Sh19 billion meant for the Itare dam project.
