By Samson Wire
Nairobi County, Nairobi: Transport committee of Nairobi county assembly has differed its meeting after a witness in the construction tender sharply criticized the city engineers for wrongdoing.
At a heated committee meeting chaired by Kiamaiko mca James Mwangi and attended by Nairobi County Chief engineers and Nairobi Metropolitan service (NMS) Samar Alkindy, a Nairobi resident residing at Pokomo estate accused NMS and Nairobi County Engineers of double standards and demanded she is paid for the work done on a footbridge.
This is after NMS ordered the removal of footbridge constructed at South C estate Pokomo road through their representatives to help road users access the main road by not interfering with the tenants.
She said at the Committee that residents decided to seek County permission to forestall a disaster in waiting by constructing a cabross on the roadside to make it conform to standards but NMS and county later removed them awarding a new contract.
At one point there was a confrontation with the said contractor in dispute with Samar Alkindy who was awarded tender with MCAs forcing her out of the committee ending meeting prematurely.
Samar Alkindy told the committee that since NMS and county did not float for the tender and no Public-private partnership was carried let alone tendering at the site, am demanding that this committee protect me and order I be paid for the expenses I incurred. Since ours was humanitarian work.
“There is no way they are awarding a new contract after we had decided to put Cabross using our own money amounting to 5 million KHs,” said Samar Al-Kindy.
Some Members of County Assembly (MCAs) of the committee led by Utalii ward Wilson Ochola Umoja one Ronaldo and Kware Rosekula supported compensation claims saying Samar Alkindy has wrongly been targeted. “As a woman in this committee, it’s very unfair to let this lady spend all that and not consider her. “
“Let county engineer Fredrick Kamau and NMS tell us whether they will compensate or not”. Said Kware MCA Rosekula.
“Why are you tendering after someone volunteered to do a road that has been neglected?” Posed Utali MCA Wilson Ochola, adding “Mr chairman we must visit the site and make recommendations.”
Chairman of the committee James Mwangi resolved after careful consideration that MCAs from the committee visit the site make their independent decision. He ordered that the matter differs until a new date when the committee will sit decide on a way forward.
