President Uhuru Kenyatta has told contractors in the planned construction of 10,000 kilometres of roads to take what the government is offering or quit the programme. The programme is part of a government strategy to develop and rehabilitate the road network within five years, but so far not a single inch has been developed, more than a year since the project was made public.
Yesterday, the President slammed bidders for contributing to the deadlock that has seen a delay in rolling out the project, which by now could have gathered pace. Uhuru, who was presiding over the opening session of the Japan-Kenya Infrastructure forum in Nairobi, accused local contractors of being selfish by tabling “offensive” proposals.
“We cannot be doing things in the traditional way every time. We have to appreciate that we have moved forward from that era. I was surprised that some of the quotations on the table by our engineers and contractors are actually too high and unacceptable,” said Uhuru.
Some of the quotations, according to the President, exceed the government threshold. For instance, those bidding to construct rural roads were not expected to exceed Sh20 million per kilometre mark, but went ahead to quote higher, according to a senior official at the Transport and Infrastructure ministry.
Those who are bidding to participate in building the highways have also quoted way beyond the Sh60 million per kilometre threshold while those seeking to build urban roads have quoted in excess of Sh80 million. Uhuru called on the contractors to think out of the box, by participating in the programme without pre-conditions.
“It is not business as usual that we have to accept everything that is put on the table,” he said. The forum brought together Japanese construction companies, local contractors and financial institutions to brainstorm on the way forward in achieving quality infrastructure.
An estimated 22 local contractors out of the 49 who bid to take part are shortlisted to undertake the first phase of the project. Uhuru said the country needs to borrow a leaf from Japanese technology to ensure roads and buildings are well constructed and maintained.
“We have a lot to learn from Japan in terms of technical skills, experience, expertise and realiability when it comes to putting up these sort of structures,” he said. The President also expressed concern over the long period of time taken in completing projects.
“This tradition of not conforming to the set timelines of projects is becoming costly for the government and taxpayer. Time and money is also wasted. But it is my hope that we make the delays a thing of the past,” he added.
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