State to pay Sh218m for affordable homes repairs

A total of Sh218 million of taxpayers’ money will be used to repair defects on Park Road Affordable Housing Project homes, a National Housing Corporation (NHC) report has revealed.

According to the report, the contractor, China State Construction and Engineering Corporation, received a completion certificate even though the defects had not been attended to at the end of the Defects Liability Period.

Washington Agutu, the National Housing Corporation General Manager - Estates Division, said the contractor also received over Sh400 million as retention fee — which is a 10 per cent of total project cost — without rectifying the defects.

The China State Construction and Engineering Corporation was paid Sh4,986,908 to build 1,370 units comprising one, two and three bedroom houses.

“Some of the defects and challenges include mechanical engineering, electrical services and general issues,” said Agutu during a fact finding tour by the National Assembly Housing Committee led by its chair Johana Ng’eno.

Agutu pointed out that there was an inadequately designed water supply distribution and piping system on the top slabs of the blocks, causing skewed supply to the houses below which results in disaffection and complaints by residents over lack of water.

“Inappropriately designed architectural layouts and consequently internal foul water drainage provisions which are prone to blockage. Unblocking and maintenance of the internal foul water drainage system poses a challenge since the common drainage stack pipes are located to the interior of the blocks,” said Agutu.

This has led to persistent complaints over blocked sewers.
He added that the inappropriately terminated stack vent pipes on the top slabs of the blocks leads to concentration of unpleasant foul air above the top slabs which are also used by residents to air clothes hence grossly unconducive.

Three years after the completion of the project, Agutu revealed the Solar Water heating system on the top slab of Block A was not tested and commissioned hence has not been used by the residents.
The residents have complained over water shortage with the National Housing Corporation terming water supply inadequate.

“The installed water storage capacity is 1.1 million litres which is less than the required capacity of 1.7 million litres for the population in the Estate,” Agutu said.

Due to this challenge, residents use lifts to transport water in portable containers from ground floor to floors above whether there are water supply interruptions.

“There was poor workmanship on the borehole systems which has often caused system failure. One of the two systems totally failed, and the submersible pump got stuck in the well and several attempts to remove it have proved futile hence aggravating the water supply situation,” added Agutu.