Three cabinet secretaries were shocked to find little progress at the construction site of the proposed Karatu stadium in Gatundu, Kiambu County, yet the contractor had been paid the full amount of the project.
The government officials expressed their disappointment over the slow pace of the constructors for dragging the project which was due to be completed in August 2020.
Industrialization CS Adan Mohammed, Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo and Energy CS Charles Keter found a few workers doing manual work construction, said they were disappointed by the progress of the project.
The construction of the Ksh260 million project was started in 2017 and is now 45 percent complete with the critical works yet to be finalised.
According to the cabinet secretaries, the contractor has little to show in terms of progress of the 2000 capacity stadium.
The cabinet secretaries issued a warning to the contractor and gave an ultimatum that the project must be completed in four months for use by Gatundu residents.
‘’CSs Adan, Omamo & Keter led Kiambu CDICC to inspect ongoing works at Karatu stadium. The CDICC has intervened to pressure the contractor to speed up progress. The delegation noted that the contractor had failed to honour project timelines even after they were revised’’, said CS Adan Mohammed via Twitter.
They instructed the constructor to come up with a realistic plan which will enable him complete the project as promised.
In his defense, the contractor blamed the delays on funding challenges and changes in designs but assured that the construction works for the project which has stalled several times will resume immediately.
This comes a day after the CS Amina Mohammed fired the contractor of Wote stadium in Makueni and consequently revoked the construction license.
According to Mohammed, the 35 percent completed facility will be taken over by the National Youth Service.
‘’We’ve given all the necessary warnings and notices, so there is absolutely nothing left on our side before we take action. We have given out 50 percent of the funds and what we’ve seen here is only 35 percent of that money. The contractor should refund the excess money," said Amina.
The completion of the multimillion shilling Wote project was due to be completed by the end of last year.
