Sh950m House chamber ready in March

The Sh949 million refurbishment of Parliament’s debating chambers will be concluded in March next year, almost one year late.

Project managers said Wednesday it was the most realistic date when they appeared before Parliament’s Budget Committee together with the Parliamentary Service Commission.

The Budget Committee was concerned that the facelift had delayed for over one year and there was no indication when the renovation would be completed.

“We want an assurance that when Parliament re-opens after the recess, that we’ll not go back to the Old Chambers,” said Budget Committee chairman Elias Mbau (Maragwa). The MPs are scheduled to take their Christmas break soon.

When the assurance came it emerged that the delivery of 352 seats, currently being built by the Kenya Prisons Department was on course and a February date set for delivery to the House.  Each of the seats will cost the taxpayer Sh200,000. The Budget Committee met the PSC as it toured the chamber currently under construction.

The initial cost of the seat pegged at Sh400,000 had been cut by half and MPs felt they were “doing very well” in the cost-cutting measures.

Kefa Osoro, from the Ministry of Public Works, said the delay was caused by the additional works like the studio, and the switching room. The increase in the number of the seats was also part of the reasons.

But even with those variations, the overall cost of the project according to House Speaker Kenneth Marende, National Assembly Clerk Patrick Gichohi and Mr Osoro will remain at Sh949 million.

That came as a shock to MPs John Mbadi (Gwassi) and Martin Ogindo (Rangwe) who questioned how the work can increase, without a variation in the cost.

The explanation was that the Bill of Quantities from the Ministry of Public Works were a bit higher than the actual market price and as a result, even with the 50 per cent cut, for example the price of seats there was still enough money to go around to cover the increase in the amount of work.

This raised questions about the original estimates, and points to a likelihood of an inflated Bill of Quantities from the Ministry of Public Works.

MP Alfred Sambu (Webuye), also the vice chairman of the Committee, termed the Ministry as a “ministry of waste”.

After the facelift, it is hoped that the chamber will have state-of-the-art broadcasting equipment plus electronic voting gadgets, to make it easy for MPs to participate in the proceedings from the comfort of their seats.  These were being installed.

The tenders for the seats were floated back in June and the bids were opened in the week of July 11, 2011. According to the tender documents and seat plans seen by the Daily Nation, the seats had to be red in colour, but the bidders were all free to bring different shades of red fabric at the opening of the bids—an exercise which was done at County Hall in July.

On Wednesday, Mr Marende said the Prisons Department was given the nod to begin working on the seats.

Each of the bidders was required to submit a sample of the seat to Parliament. The design of the seats is swanky. They are automatically adjustable. The seats have a fireproof material between the foam and metal to slow down burning in case of a fire in the chamber. The architect advises a metallic frame and a polypropylene (some kind of stiff, hardy plastic) back.

The technical drawings by K&M Archplans Ltd, the architects show that the seats have a leather upholstery, with an armrest.

The comfort of the MPs is also paramount.

“The seat must tip up automatically. In order to do this, an extremely quiet, double spring system must be inserted inside the seat shell. The spring system is test to 500, 000 cycles and requires no lubrication of any kind,” read the tender documents on the specifications of the MPs seats.