Little to show in way of completed government housing projects, Treasury report shows

With the clock ticking to 2022, the State has little to show in the way of completed social and affordable housing.

The housing component of the Big Four agenda aims to construct 500,000 affordable houses by 2022.

According to a report released this month by the National Treasury, the government completed 228 of the 1,370 units earmarked for Park Road, Nairobi, during the 2018-19 Financial Year.

In the same period, 462 of 7,587 social housing units were completed, while 180 units to house police and prison officers were ready.

The energy, infrastructure and ICT sector is a key driver of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four agenda. Between 2016 and 2019, this sector was allocated a total Sh1.18 trillion for recurrent and development expenditure.

“The slow implementation of capital projects occasioned by local contractors’ inadequate capacity has gradually culminated into project delays, cost overruns and possible legal and contract challenges arising from arbitration and contractual issues,” states the report.

The report recommends the establishing of a pool of equipment to be hired by contractors and acquisition of testing equipment for structural integrity of buildings.

It also recommended the operationalisation of the National Construction Institute to act as a training centre for those in the construction industry.