Itare Dam: Italian firm denies bankruptcy reports

A deserted construction site at Itare Dam in Kuresoi South, Nakuru County on October 9, 2018. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP 

By DAVID MWERE
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Summary

• In a statement to newsrooms, CMC di Ravenna said that neither itself nor its subsidiaries have been declared bankrupt or insolvent.
• The firm attributes its slow work pace to delays in receipt of payments.
• It has already been paid Sh11 billion of the Sh38 billion budgeted for the Itare Dam.

An Italian firm contracted by the national government to construct the multibillion Itare Dam within Nakuru County has denied claims that it is broke.

In a statement to newsrooms, CMC di Ravenna said that neither itself nor its subsidiaries have been declared bankrupt or insolvent.

“CMC has voluntarily engaged in a composition with creditors procedure to ensure it safeguards the interests of all stakeholders (creditors, investors, clients and co-operative employees),” the statement read. 

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“CMC di Ravenna continues to be fully committed to completing the dam project ahead of or within the contracted time frame.”

But the firm attributed the slow work pace to delays in receipt of payments.

According to the company, as at November 2018 its forward order book amounted to £4.7 billion, a process initiated by CMC board to ensure full transparency and financial compliance.

Contracted to complete the dam by 2021, the firm said 30 percent of the works already finished in the project that started in April 2017.

The firm said it will resume operations in March following the temporary suspension.

Background

CMC di Ravenna is one of the biggest construction firms in Europe but it has hit financial turbulence in recent times and was declared insolvent by an Italian court last December, thus putting in doubt its ability to undertake massive projects to completion.

The Nation has learnt the government has already paid the company Sh11 billion out of the total Sh38.5 billion budgeted for Itare Dam.

It has also emerged the troubled construction conglomerate is in fact holding contracts of five dams, and not three, as earlier reported.

The Nation learnt the company also won tenders to construct Radat Dam in Marigat, Baringo County, at a cost of Sh20 billion, and Kithinu dam in Nkubu, Meru County, at a cost of Sh26 billion.

This is besides three other mega dams the company is constructing in Rift Valley region — Itare dam in Nakuru County at a cost of Sh38 billion, Arror Dam for Sh38 billion and Kimwarer Dam for Sh28 billion.