1.4B Dual Carriageway contractor self-sabotaging, blames County Government and KPLC for delays in completion as construction is halted ~ Report

In Summary;

• Submission by Site Manager, Chief Officer
• ZHONGMEI ENGINEERING GROUP LIMITED directors
• Effects of the Construction
  • Positives
  • Negatives
• Committee Observations
• Committee Recommendations
• Committee Conclusion
• Committee Members
• DOWNLOAD; FULL Roads committee report (pdf)

This report is based on the statement raised in the house by Nominated MCA Hon. Frederick Musebe in regard to the status of Dual Carriage Road project being undertaken by the County Government of Bungoma through the department of Roads, Public Works and Infrastructure.

The Honorable member wanted to know the Social Economic impact caused by the project on the residents of Bungoma town and the people of Bungoma County at large.

The Department availed the responses which were scanty and thus being directed to the committee for further fact-finding and avail the report which is being laid in this house.

The information requested and availed by the Chief Officer includes the following parameters:

1. Financial allocations on the project since inception
2. Location of the signage of the project
3. Certificate of registration of the contracted Company
4. Social Impact Assessment report
5. Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIA)
6. List of personnel contracted on the project

The CR12 indicates ZHONGMEI ENGINEERING GROUP LIMITED directors as follows;

1. Pong Yankum –               Director
2. Dong Lonpei   –               Director
3. Chieng Xiayu   –              Director
4. Patrick Wangalwa Oundo – Local representative

Submission by Site Manager Mr. Huang

Mr. HUANG submitted as follows;

• That the project was going on well despite some challenges which included the delays in payment of Certificates, he further submitted that he had raised certificates amounting to Kshs. 400M in the month of March, 2021 which are due for payment within 90 days failure to which the penalties shall be imposed.
• The conflict with NZOWASCO on the relaying of the water pipes/lines by the County Government whenever they are damaged in line with work execution, the duty of reconnection is for the County Government responsible department not the Contractor
• The Kenya Power and Lighting Company have erected the power lines on the road which they have delayed to relocate to pave way for smooth execution of their work;

However, Sub section 54(11) of the BQs provides that the Contractor shall acquaint himself with the position of all existing services such water lines, electricity lines etc. before commencing any excavation or any other work which is likely to affect the existing services.

The Contractor stated that the traffic control on the Boda Boda and Matatu operators. The diversions required enforcement which the County Government had failed to assist which the committee noted to be the work of the Contractor.

General Committee Finding / Observations

1. The total contract sum for the project is Kshs. 1,382,442,975.76. The County Assembly has appropriated a cumulative total of Kshs. 591,495,064 to-date as out lined in Table 1 above. Representing 42.8% of the contract sum. The County Government still need to be allocated a total of Kshs. 790,947,912 in the Financial Year 2021/2022 budget estimates, if the project is to be completed and be operational by the closure of the FY 2020/2021 as indicated in the Contract period. This balance represents 57.2% of the total contract sum.
2. It’s noted from the above data, that the total payments is above the appropriated amount as per the approved budgets. The source of the extra Kshs. 58,660,400 paid on 10/02/2020 in FY 2019/2020 vide certificate No. 2 is not known. From the information availed by the accounting officer, there was no explanation on which vote head the amount was paid from. The department made a payment out of funds that were not appropriated to the project, contrary to the provisions of section 149 sub-sections (1) and (2 (a)) the Public Finance Management Act, 2012
   1. Out of the 10 Cross Culvert installed at various points on the Dual Carriage Road from Sang’alo Junction to Kanduyi and with exception of the one at Elegant Hotel, The Culverts directs water to the lower side of the Road towards Khalaba River where the extensive drainage requires stone pitching and proper direction of storm water to prevent destruction of newly constructed feeder Roads and private properties.
   1. From the submission of the project manager, there was no indication that the amount advanced on Certificate number one was being recovered. As per Clause 60 (12) of the contract document (BQs), the advance payment shall be recovered with percentage reductions from the monthly interim payment certificates certified by the Project Engineer. This should begin when the amount due to the contractor under the contract amounts to 20% of the original contract sum. Further, it should be completed by the time 80% of the contract sum is attained. Refer Clause 60(12) for the formula to be used.
   1. It was observed that there is a likelihood of the contractor invoking the contract clauses on interest accumulation on delayed payment, as indicated in Clause 60(10) (iii) of the contract document “that the employer shall make payments on the contractor of simple interest at a rate equal to two percentage points above the average bank lending rates obtained from the Central Bank of Kenya.”
   1. The percentage of the amount Certified as per the information from the committee’s fact finding inclusive of the pending certificates of Kshs. 400 million as captured on Hansard during the interview with the Contractor is at 75.5% Percentage of work done. This does not reflect the actual work on the ground in comparison with the scope of work and time elapsed vis-à-vis completion date.

Committee Recommendations

1. The department made a payment of Kshs. 58,660,400 in the FY2019/2020 out of funds that were not appropriated to the project, contrary to the provisions of section 149 (1) and

(2) (a)of the Public Finance Management Act, 2012 which the Committee hereby directs the Accounting Officer to furnish this Committee with more information on the misappropriation within 14 days on adoption of the report.

• The Project Manager is directed to submit copies of the pending Interim Payment Certificates amounting to Kshs. 400M to the committee within 14 days from the date of adoption of this report.
• The Committee directs the Project Manager to ensure the construction of stone pitching off the 10 Cross Culverts at various points on the Dual Carriage Road from Sang’alo Junction to Kanduyi for proper direction of storm water to prevent destruction of newly constructed feeder Roads and private properties.
• The department should avoid delays in honoring the Interim Payment Certificates raised by the contractor in order to avoid incurring interest on overdue amount that can result to an increase in the cost of the project.
• The department is directed to provide information on advance payment recoveries and a proof of the same within 14 days from the date of adoption of this report.

The Committee directs the project manager to submit a report on the status of a Court Case REF; BGM HC Constitutional Petition No. 4 of 2019 seeking conservatory orders against the respondents from commencing the project.

Committee Conclusion

The project should continue adhering to the mitigations identified and ensure that the overall goal of the project is achieved. The community should continue being listened to and their views taken into account since the project is meant to help the traders and the community at large. The services of the locally-based community liaison officer (CLO) will continue being utilized. To this far, human rights have been respected during the construction phase and we expect continued evaluation of the social impact of the project to the community so as to allow maximum benefit of the project by the community when the project comes to completion and more so after the commissioning of the project,

Committee Members

The members of Roads, Public Works and Infrastructure Committee are;

S/N	NAME	TITLE	SIGN
I	Hon. Jack Kawa	Chairperson
2	Hon. Paul Wamalwa	V/Chairperson
3	Hon. Joseph Juma	Member
4	Hon. Francis Chemion	Member
5	Hon. Elly Tindi	Member
6	Hon. Henry Majimbo	Member
7	Hon. Jack Wambulwa	Member
8	Hon. Meshack Simiyu	Member
9	Hon. Joseph Maguda	Member
10	Hon. Ben Kipkut	Member
I l	Hon. Martin Pepela	Member
12	Hon. Isaiah Sudi	Member
13	Hon. Frankaline Simotwo	Member
14	Hon. Aggrey Mulongo	Member
15	Hon. Winnie Nyambok	Member