Chemolingot residents want stalled 'political' projects completed before 2017

Residents have demanded the completion of stalled national government projects worth over Sh500 million.

And top on their wish list is a Sh300 million college that stalled under unclear circumstances two years ago.

The construction of North Rift Technical Institute, which began in 2014, ground to a halt and the contractor has since left the site, leaving the education project in suspense.

Led by Ribko MCA Daniel Tuwit, residents of Chemolingot said there were other white elephant projects in the area, all funded by taxpayers.

“This is not the first Government project to stall in the area; the construction of a simple police station has been going on for almost 10 years. Government projects should be completed as quickly as possible to benefit residents. What is going on is unacceptable,” said Mr Tuwit.

The residents said some of the stalled projects may have been meant to hoodwink them into supporting the government of the day.

CAMPAIGN CHIPS

They accused the Government of deliberately under-funding the projects to use them again as campaign chips for the next General Election.

“The Government should not turn development projects into political bait. Releasing development funds a few months to the elections leaves a lot to be desired,” said Reuben Chebet.

A spot check by The Standard established that some of the walls of the incomplete college had started crumbling; the gate is slowly being covered by a growing thorny bush.

However, Tiaty Deputy County Commissioner Daniel Kurui denied the allegations, saying the project was 70 per cent complete. He said the sub-county was hosting three other national government projects and called for understanding.

“Yes, it is true that the project stalled but that has since been sorted out and it is now back on track. By early next year, we are sure it will be complete,” said Mr Kirui.

Other Government-funded projects in the area include the sub-county headquarters and the Loruk-Chemolingot-Barbelo highway.

The road was commissioned about seven years ago by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and funded by the World Bank.

Besides the college, other projects that have stalled in the county include the Sh50 million Eldama Ravine Technical Training Institute and a new High Court building in Eldama Ravine town.

Koibatek Deputy County Commissioner Samson Macharia said another Sh16 million was still needed to complete the High Court building whose initial budget was Sh65 million.

LOCAL CDF

He also said the Eldama institute had an initial allocation of Sh40 million from the Ministry of Education and Sh10 million from the local CDF.

While visiting the county recently, the Principal Secretary for Vocational and Technical Training Dinah Mwinzi said the Government had invested heavily in the construction of technical institutes.

But residents of Chemolingot say there is little to show for this investment.