Contractor given twelve weeks to complete flats in Kisumu

Principal Secretary, State Department of Housing and Urban Development Aidah Munano PHOTO:COURTESY

The Government has given a contractor 12 weeks to complete a Sh700 million housing units for civil servants in Kisumu.

Yesterday, while inspecting the project that is set to benefit more than 300 civil servants, Housing and Urban Development Principal Secretary Aidah Munano said the Government risked losing millions of shillings in revenue because of the delay.

The construction of the houses, which started in 2015, was supposed to be completed by January this year but the project is only 70 per cent complete.

The PS said the ministry was concerned over the slow progress as the ministry had advertised that the houses would be ready for sale in February.

“We have now given the contractor 12 weeks to complete the project and we hope by September, we will have the houses ready to sell to civil servants in Kisumu,” said Munano.

The PS said the contractor would be put to task to explain why the project has not been completed.

“We want to sell the houses to civil servants and get revenue but the slow progress is worrying,” said Ms Munano.

To own the apartments, civil servants will apply for loans through the Civil Servants Housing Scheme Fund and repay within 25 years at an interest rate of five per cent.

The civil servants will part with Sh6.4 million to purchase a three-bedroom house. A two- and one-bedroom house will go for Sh4.3 million and Sh2.7 million respectively.

“There are financial consequences if we do not complete the project and sell it in time and that is what we are trying to avoid,” said Munano.