Construction of the Sh1.9 billion Dho Goye bridge that links Siaya and Busia counties is set to be complete early next year.
According to the representative of the resident engineer, Francis Okoth, the work on the 200-meter-long bridge across river Yala is currently at 75 percent completion.
Speaking during a visit by the Siaya national government development implementation coordination committee, Okoth said that the contractor is set to begin the final setting of the bridge next month, ahead of working on the 2.5-kilometer approach road from both sides.
“The contractor is not owed any arrears by the government, and we will finish the bridge, ready for commissioning early next year,” he told the committee led by the Siaya County Commissioner, Norbert Jara Komora, and the government delivery unit regional director, Allan Luvungu.
Among the projects that the committee visited were the affordable housing units and the stalled modern market in Siaya town and construction of a tuition block and library at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga University of Science and Technology in Bondo.
GDU Regional Director, Allan Luvungu hailed the progress at which the construction of the affordable units in Siaya town and the Dho Goye bridge were moving but expressed concern with the stalling of the Siaya town market and the tuition block and hostels at JOOUST.
“We have noted that some contractors are not on site, and we will escalate this to the highest office to unlock them,” said Luvungu, adding, “Most of the issues are mainly on the capacity of the contractors to deliver.
Siaya County Commissioner Norbert Jara Komora said the national government has pumped in billions of shillings in development projects across all the constituencies in the county.
Among the projects, he said, were affordable housing units in Alego/Usonga, Gem, Ugenya, and Bondo constituencies and students’ hostels in Rarieda and roads.
On rural electrification, the county commissioner said that over 8,000 households have been connected to the national grid, and many more are expected to be added before the end of the year.
Komora said that the projects have helped create employment and improve the local economy; hence, the need for the public to reciprocate by supporting the government.
By Philip Onyango
