RESIDENTS REACTS TO THE SIX YEARS STALL FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF CHUKA-KAARENI ROAD
Kenya’s Chuka-Kaareni road has caused lots of accidents and claimed lives of the residents due to it’s bad condition.
Tharaka-Nithi residents have patiently waited for the completion of the six years old 28 kilometer road. For the last six years they have paved only six kilometers of road from Chuka to the country’s largest commercial center and Kathwana the country’s headquarter.
The residents protested saying the road construction that started in 2014 should be completed urgently. During the protest they cried out about the constant fatal accidents on the road and the recent motorcycle that fell on trenches and claimed lives of both passenger and driver. The protesters blocked the road with stones and logs frustrating movement on that road for hours before the police dispersed them. The protested vowed to continue frustrating movements on that road until constructions start.
The county leaders headed by Senator Kithure Kindiki and Governor Muthomi Njuki accused the contractors Westbuild General Contractor Limited for the unending delay.
The contractor reacted saying the slow pace of the construction is as a result of the agreed contract that demands that they use local based technology restricting them from using heavy machines during the period of the construction. Also adding that there is delay in receiving funds for the project making it difficult to pay workers and get materials they need.
The current state of the road has affected the economy of the head quarter, as the cost of transportation is on the high side. The road users now pay up to three times the usual amount they pay for the same road, since the road is causes constant damages and break down to the vehicles that uses it.
“It is too expensive to transport farm produce from Chuka to county headquarters at Kathwana,” said Mr John Kimathi, a business man from Chuka town.