Roads and Transport Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has directed the National Construction Authority (NCA) to take action on engineers involved in building a five-story building that collapsed in Uthiru on Tuesday, May 7.
At least 10 people were injured when the newly constructed house along Naivasha Road came down.
On Wednesday, Mr Murkomen who officially opened the Engineering Partnership Convention at Dedan Kimathi University of Technology in Nyeri County said NCA should take action on engineers who supervised the works.
Five-storey buildingcollapses in Uthiru The scary mess of urban cemetery crisis in major towns, citiesNCA should follow up the matter, Mr Murkomen who was accompanied by Principal Secretary Joseph Mbugua and Nyeri Town MP Duncan Mathenge, said.
The CS who represented Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua supported calls by World Federation of Engineering Organisations President Mustapha Shehu for the formation of specific tribunals to prosecute engineers who flout rules.
Engineers should ensure contractors meet standards, Mr Murkomen said, adding that his ministry will ensure local engineers were recognised globally.
He said his ministry will work with road agencies to assess infrastructure damage, including roads and bridges, following heavy rains.
We will work with engineers to build climate-resilient infrastructure, he said.
His ministry, the CS said, was working to change the trend of sourcing consulting engineers and contractors from outside the country for local business projects, adding that all the professionals working in the country should be registered.
The Semiconductor Technology Company at Dekut also won accolades from the CS and other speakers for being run by young engineers, the majority of them women.
In a statement, Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua said the heavy rains pounding the country had put sectors of the economy to test.
The collapse of infrastructure puts the engineers into sharp focus, Mr Gachagua said.
He regretted that quacks had invaded the engineering profession and stressed that they should be prosecuted.
Those who deliver low-quality work should be punished. Quacks and corrupt professionals should be arrested, the DP said.
He said there was a need for engineers to adhere to civil and structural designs and for those who flout the rules to be punished.
He also called on the NCA, the National Environment Management Authority and other agencies to support a kitty to train more engineers.
Engineers Board of Kenya chairman Erastus Mwongera decried the low numbers of the professionals saying they were only 3500 in the country.
Mr Mwongera regretted that there were many unregistered foreign engineers in the country doing work that could be done by locals.
Dekut vice-chancellor Peter Muchiri said 92 percent of the programmes at the institution were of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
The 5 th Engineering Partnerships Convention whose theme is Engineering@60: Reflections, Response, Resetting has attracted local and international participants and more than 50 exhibitors.
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