Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong has assured contractors that his government will pay outstanding debts the county inherited from the National Government in 2013.
Speaking during a meeting with about 100 contractors at the Busia Agricultural Training Centre on Thursday, the Governor said his government will factor the payments in the supplementary budget.
"We had a meeting with Deputy President William Ruto over the debts we inherited from contractors in 2013. We need to start the new year on a clean sheet thus the need to pay off the debts," he said.
The Governor assured the contractors whose payments stalled owing to delayed issuance of Local Purchase Orders that they will be paid in due course.
Ojaamong told contractors to be I-tax compliant saying the Integrated Financial Management Information System will not accept payment of any contractor who has not upgraded his or her I-tax.
The Governor called for honesty among contractors, adding that his government wants minimum complaints and regular meetings with the contractors.
"My office is open to all elected leaders. I want your chairman Peter Magero to be updating me regularly on the challenges you are facing so that they can be solved without due delay," he said.
Magero said the 10 percent Project Management fee should not be paid as a lump sum but in installments, adding that tender documents are official documents which should be respected.
The contractors appealed to the Governor to reduce payment steps and duration for completed projects and to address the issue of projects variation to enable them complete stalled projects.
Some contractors want ward administrators take up responsibility for ward projects claiming that MCAs were an impediment in execution of projects within their areas of jurisdiction.
They want approval of letters of undertaking to take the shortest time possible and that some of them were blamed for shoddy jobs with no default letter served to them.