Projects Stall in Mwala

Work stalls on three

key Mwala projects

 By Anchor Correspondent

 

Construction work on three development projects funded by the government to the tune of Sh 32 million in Mwala district has stalled.

Mwala District Commissioner, Ms Amoit

The projects include upgrading of Mbaikini Boys High School into a higher model institution, putting up of the Constituency Industrial Development Centre at Wamunyu market and Masii fresh produce market shades.

The government availed Sh 21 million for elevation of Mbaikini, Sh 2.5 million for the industrial centre and Sh 9.6 million for the Masii market shades under the economic stimulus package.

Belworks engineering limited which has been implementing the three projects disengaged a couple of months ago leaving the projects incomplete.

The builder is reported to have abandoned work at Mbaikini secondary after the Sh 21 million allocated for the purpose got exhausted leaving the administration block, computer lab, library and ablutions/toilet facilities unaccomplished..

Only construction of one classroom, two staff houses and renovation of the multipurpose hall has been completed. ‘’The contractor has been a headache and we are in the process of terminating him,’’ the school principal Mr. Munyao Mua told a monitoring and evaluation team which went to evaluate the projects yesterday.

The team led by District Officer One Mr. Gathungu Machira and comprising other officials from public works, finance, audit, planning and information departments as well as CDF was constituted by the District Commissioner Ms Florence Amoit to evaluate progress of the projects .

  The contractor, according to Mr. Mua pulled out of site unceremoniously after his workers quit for none payment which put construction work to an abrupt halt. ‘’The workers kept threatening to riot and I couldn’t stomach that,’’ he explained when Mr. Machira queried why the builder abandoned work leaving the 4 structures incomplete.

  The D.O 1 sought to know the remaining balance of the Sh 21 million with the principal citing Sh 750,000 only which the team concluded wasn’t enough to offset the contractor’s claims had he carried on with the work.

  For the administration block, library and computer, the builder did up to the lintel level while the ablutions facilities required a few final fixtures to get complete. The pending work, according to estimation by the monitoring team, required about Sh 3 million to be finalized.

 The contractor left on site unused building materials which the monitoring team estimated to be worth between Sh. 1.5 to Sh. 2 million and expressed worry of them wearing out should they remain exposed to the vagaries of weather.

 Mr Mua admitted overpaying the contractor Sh 350, 0000 by mistake but said he was being pursued to make a refund. ‘’I thought the Sh 21 million would cater for completion of the 7 projects but it was a miscalculation,’’ the principal answered when the district accountant Mr. Njoroge Macharia queried him why he chose to undertake the 7 projects at a go instead of in phases which would have seen additional completed.

 For the Sh 2.5 million Wamunyu constituency industrial development centre, the officials found that the contractor deserted work immediately he got initial payment of Sh 671,140 leaving the project at the lintel level. An official from industrialization department Mr. Muthoka Nduli said disappearance of the contractor caused Sh 1.8 million to be returned to the Treasury last financial year.

 "Our department is pursuing termination of the contract and we have written to the Ministry of Public Works to have that done’’, Mr. Nduli told the evaluation team at the site.

He said the department had requested for re-allocation of the cash to have the project completed and various sections including wielding, garage, carpentry and tailoring equipped.

 The team found that the contractor had done only 5 percent of work before abandoning putting up of Masii Fresh Produce Market shades with a contract sum of Sh. 9,659,869.

‘’As you can see, he disappeared after digging the trenches only and has not been communicating,’’ Mr. Antony Wambua from Machakos County Council which is supervising the project told the monitoring team at the site.

 He said a default note had been issued to the contractor and Masaku County  Council wrote to the director of markets with a view to having the contract terminated. He said no payment had been effected.

 The officials appealed to public works ministry to hasten the release of default notifications to the contractor to facilitate termination of the contracts and award the same afresh.

 The team was impressed by the quality of work done at Kyethivo girls’ secondary school which received Sh 5 million for