Residents of Cham Gi Wadu village in Rongo Sub County on Sunday staged a protest after a bridge that was under construction by Migori County government collapsed just a day after construction work was completed.
The residents expressed their displeasure in the casual way in which the contractors were handling the work which they termed as shoddy.
Margaret Aoko, a resident of Cham Gi Wadu village accused the contractors of sleeping on their job and leaving the work to inexperienced workers leading to the collapse of the bridge.
“Governor Obado promised to build this bridge in his final term but this shoddy work is a shame to his administration, ” Aoko said.
They said that their suffering has been persistent especially during rainy seasons when school going children are forced to travel for close to three kilometres in search of accessible roads to school.
“Our children walk for over three kilometres whenever it rains because the river linking Cham Gi Wadu village and the neighbouring villages overflood posing a life risk to the kids.” lamented another local.
The residents now want the contractor to be laid off and the work handed over to the competent contractor.
South Kamagambo MCA Kevin Oyugi has however urged the residents to remain calm and let the contractor finish the ongoing construction.
“We have informed the county engineer who had been contracted for the job and he is willing to redo the work so there is no major cause for alarm,” said Oyugi.
County roads engineer Elphas Onyango refuted claims of shoddy work saying the bridge collapsed due to negligence by some casual labourers.
“The bridge had not dried properly dried but one of the workers deflated the balloon that held the concrete resulting into the collapse.” clarified Onyango.
He said a team of the workers are already in the site and are currently working on the bridge.
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