Machakos County recarpet chipped new road

Thursday, July 10, 2014 - 00:00 -- BY ANDREW MBUVA

A section on the newly commissioned Makutano-Kithimani road in Machakos County taken on July 2,2014 shows chipped sections. The contractor has now filled the potholes in the new road Photo/Andrew Mbuva

Workers repair Makutano Ma Mwala to Kithimani Road(C100) on Thursday few days after Machakos Governor lauched the road for use by motorist Photo/David Ndolo

Machakos county government has patched up sections of the newly constructed Makutano – Kithimani road recently commissioned by governor Alfred Mutua.

Potholes showing patches of soil were already visible in some sections of the road but a spot check by The Star on Thursday found out that the potholes had been sealed.

Though commissioned with a lot of pomp and colour the project has since received a lot of criticism from all corners starting from the political class to the residents.

County Roads and public works executive Kioko was Luka said that the only section that had issues was between Kabaa Market and Athiriver.

He said the problem was that the first coat of tarmac was destabilized by heavy Lorries that were fitting electricity poles in the area before the coat dried.

Luka said they had asked the contractor to re-carpet the section.

He said that the contractor’s six months term was not over and the County Government was still holding their retention fee in case there are any forms of repairs needed.

While commissioning the road Machakos Governor Dr. Alfred Mutua said that the 33km road built in three months was the fastest build in Kenya and possibly in Africa.

A number of the County MCA’s have termed the project a white elephant.

Stephen Muthuka of Ndalani ward said that the outcome of the project was not worth Sh650 million the governor claimed to have spent on it.

Muthuka also took issue with the street lighting and CCTV cameras installed along the road saying that it was not a priority.

He said the electricity bills the County will incur on the street lighting can be of a big profit to the County if directed to other pressing projects.

- See more at: http://www.the-star.co.ke/news/article-175876/machakos-county-recarpet-chipped-new-road#sthash.6NrP8nxF.dpuf