Reconstruction works on the collapsed Sigiri bridge are set to begin. PHOTO | GAITANO PESSA | NMG
Summary
- Rebuilding of the bridge will be undertaken by the same Chinese company that had constructed it.
- The company defended itself against claims that it did not adhere to required standards during construction.
- Investigations to establish the cause of the collapse are still ongoing and yet to be made public.
The reconstruction of the controversial Sh1.2 billion Sigiri Bridge in Busia County is set to be launched on Wednesday.
Area
MP Ababu Namwamba, under whose constituency the bridge falls, confirmed
that Transport and Infrastructure Cabinet Secretary James Macharia will
flag off the project at the site later in the afternoon.
Water and Irrigation CS Eugene Wamalwa is also expected to attend.
“Prior
to arriving at Sigiri, Cabinet Secretaries Macharia and Wamalwa will
inspect progress of construction of Busia-Malaba road that is being
upgraded to bitumen standard. They will also preside over the launch of
the Social Support Fund for the Elderly, a cash transfer program to
those aged 70 and above in Busia town,” said Mr Namwamba.
The
reconstruction works on the main breached section will be undertaken by
the same Chinese company that had erected the bridge - Chinese Overseas
Construction and Engineering Company (Covec).
The
infrastructure mysteriously collapsed on June 26 this year, just ten
days after President Uhuru Kenyatta had visited the site to inspect it.
The incident saw 27 labourers on site injured and rushed to hospital.
While
the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure quickly suspended the
construction of the bridge after promising a probe, works on the 3
kilometre approach roads on either side of the river have continued.
Investigations to establish the cause of the collapse are still ongoing and yet to be made public.
Baffled by collapse
Covec
project manager Jerome Xzue Hua earlier defended the Chinese company
against claims that it did not adhere to required standards.
“This is very unusual because all the standards and specifications required by the employer were met,” he said.
“We
have experienced engineers and we are equally baffled by what happened.
We hope to find the root cause of the problem and rectify the matter,”
he added.
The project, which is now behind schedule, was expected to be complete by end of this month.
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