Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works chair Johana Ngeno during a meeting with State Department for Public Works and State Department for Housing and Urban Development on July 17, 2024.....CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE>>>
The development budgets for the State Department for Public Works has been revised to zero, MPs have learnt.
Appearing before the Departmental Committee on Housing, Urban Planning and Public Works, the PS for State Department for Public Works Joel Arumonyang told MPs the department’s development budget has been reduced by 100 per cent.
Arumonyang stated that the drastic cut would force the contractors to abandon the sites due to the failure of the department to meet its financial obligations.
“This would stall ongoing projects, accumulate pending bills, increase project costs due to accumulation of interest on delayed payments in addition to possible litigations,” stated Arumonyang.
On the other hand State Department for Housing and Urban Development secretary Said Athman told the committee that the proposed deductions will derail completion of ongoing projects.
The Housing and Urban Development Department had an allocation of Sh2.24 billion for development while that of the Public Works Department was Sh1.2 billion.
The committee chair, who is also the MP for Emurua Dikiir Johana Ngeno asked the PS for Public Works to hold a meeting with the National Treasury to explain the importance of the department to the country.
“You must have a communication with your counterpart in the National Treasury, where budget cuts are determined. Explain that your department has always been unfairly targeted by budget cuts year in and year out,” said Ng’eno.
Arumonyang committed that he will further engage with the National Treasury, especially on the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda projects.
The Committee recommended that the Housing and Urban Development Department develop a central monitoring system for all ongoing projects and save on costs that would have otherwise been incurred on-site visits.
To enable Departments to meet the obligations, MPs were asked to favourably consider additional funding for the two departments…CONTINUE READING>>
