Obrein Simasiku
OMUTHIYA – The long wait by prospective applicants on council’s waiting to secure electricity is slowly being shortened as the electrification of about 322 erven, which was the stumbling block to award plots to the people in Omuthiya, is envisaged to commence soon.
Of the beneficiary erven, 243 are earmarked for residential, 17 business, 10 office plots, nine institutional, two local authority, three agricultural and a cemetery.
The remainder includes three private and 20 open spaces, according to figures provided by the council.
According to the CEO of Omuthiya Town Council, Samuel Mbango, by August the town council will have appointed a contractor to start electrifying the area. The area has been cleared and has already been serviced with road infrastructure, water and sewerage lines.
A combined 2,800 applicants are on the council’s waiting list.
“The tender closed on June 29 and we are busy adjudicating the bidders. The bidders were a lot and we will eventually select the best suitable bidder – this process might go up to August,” said Mbango.
In terms of the service time frame, Mbango said at this stage it is still premature to state when the process can be completed as this can only be determined after awarding the tender.
“The period will be indicated by the contractor and that’s when we will know exactly how long it will take. However, as council we hope and want the process to last about six to eight months, and we anticipate the completion by March next year,” stressed Mbango.
Once the process of electrifying is complete, the allocation of plots will begin by June/July as the plots still need to be evaluated. “As we stand now there is no value as yet attached to the plots, so we still need to evaluate in order to determine how much each is worth,” he said.