NAIROBI, June 24 – The Government is to establish an oversight authority to vet and register contractors, according to the Public Works Minister Chris Obure.
The Minister said on Tuesday that the authority would ensure contractors undertaking various government projects put up quality buildings as well other infrastructure to accelerate the country’s economic growth.
"We are in the process of establishing a National Construction Authority to make sure that building projects are completed on time, within cost and in good quality," Obure said.
He explained that lapses in professionalism in the construction industry had cost the country colossal sums of money in sunken capital, for which the citizens derived no value.
Obure stated that whereas some contractors had continued to discharge commendable services, some had been profit-motivated to the detriment of quality building works.
Speaking at the Kenya Institute of Administration (KIA) when handing over a Sh64 million conference centre to his Public Services counterpart Dalmas Otieno, Obure urged government ministries to consult with the Public Works Ministry before undertaking various projects around the country.
"My ministry would provide professional services which include architectural, quantity surveying and engineering. We also provide services toward the installation of electrical services in government buildings," he offered.
Due to lack of proper planning and consultations, numerous government projects have stalled.
In the past three years, the Public Works Ministry has completed 150 projects out of 200 that had stalled.
The Ministry is currently handling over 1,800 projects comprising of both new, rehabilitated, maintenance and stalled projects.
At the same function, Otieno appealed to all ministries to continuously enrol their members of staff at various training institutes.
"Ministries should increase their training budget allocation to two percent in order to train officers to maximize productivity and thus step up customer satisfaction," said the Public Services Minister.
Otieno, at the same time, encouraged ministries to use public institutions for seminars and workshops as opposed to hotels, in order to cut costs.
About The Author
