Sixty road projects worth about Sh1.7 billion have been abandoned by contractors due to lack of payment.
City Hall’s transport and infrastructure chief officer, Frederick Karanja, said yesterday that construction of some of the roads had stopped.
Speaking during a devolution conference in Nairobi yesterday, Mr Karanja said the projects were re-advertised three weeks ago and that contractors willing to undertake the works had been paid Sh300 million.
“The contractors willing to continue with the projects were engaged and allowed to commence the projects,” he added.
Specific projects
The projects include the John Osogo and Muigai Kenyatta roads in Dandora, Ole Sangale Road, Runda Drainage, and rehabilitation of California Estate roads.
The transport county executive, Mohammed Dagane, said non-payment of contractors had led to the stalling of other projects valued at Sh4.9 billion. Although he did not name the specific projects, he indicated that only projects worth Sh1.2 billion had been completed, with the rest still pending in the current financial year.
“Delayed or pending payment are a major challenge in developing the transport sector and we are working to address the situation,” he said.
Dagane blamed the woes in the transport sector on factors such as encroachment of road reserves by private developers and businesses, lack of a proper transport master plan, old and inadequate labour force, several missing road links within the city, and dilapidated equipment.
“The contracting of several agencies to manage roads has also contributed to uncoordinated efforts and duplication of roles,” he said.
The issue of road fatalities also came up. Karanja said that on any one given day, about four people lose their lives on the newly-constructed Outer Ring Road.
He noted that lack of clear demarcations and footbridges put pedestrians’ lives at risk.
Jogoo Road was also singled out as a hotspot for accidents since footbridges were far apart and pedestrians rarely used them.
Statistics from the National Transport Safety Authority show that 843 pedestrians were killed in Nairobi from January to December 2017, while 547 were seriously injured. Another 177 escaped with minor injuries.
jthiongo@standardmedia.co.ke
