Maravi

Mulongoti warns road contractors against shoddy works

Mulongoti warns road contractors against shoddy works
Written by Moses Kuwema in Mansa
Thursday, April 02, 2009 3:23:49 PM

WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti has threatened to terminate contracts of local contractors that fail to fulfill their obligations.

Mulongoti, who is on a tour of road projects in Northern and Luapula provinces, on Tuesday said the government would soon introduce an internal monitoring and audit unit under the Road Development Agency (RDA) that would ensure the agency pursues contractors that fail to meet their contractual obligations.

"It is sad that some roads have got grass by the road side. The same attitude that you have at your homes where you live, that's the attitude that I have witnessed with the roads," Mulongoti said during a meeting with Luapula-based local contractors.

He said the government wanted value for the money it pays to contractors.

"Most of you just want to do quick things, you should be ashamed of yourself. Where a road requires 10 bags of cement, you use five and within a short period cracks start developing and when you are asked, you say you don't know. But we want to change that so this time, as soon as the contract is awarded, the RDA will follow you and you will have no peace, the honeymoon is over. We will not hesitate to enforce penalties in contracts. So if you don't want to be pursued, stay out of government contracts," he said.

Mulongoti said the government had sufficient lawyers who would be able to follow contractors that fail to perform.

"I'm very disappointed. I found some abandoned projects in Kaputa and you [contractors] are even going round the street that you are a contractor, you are just a thief, that's your title," he said.

Mulongoti said the government would want most Zambians to get sub-contracts of bigger projects but he wondered how possible that could be if the contractors were unreliable.

"Some of you vanish after being paid. The government is ready to support you but if you show dishonest behaviour then you are a risk to government," he said.

He said 50 per cent of the money that was allocated to Luapula Province was spent on local contractors.

"So don't leave a trail of misery by getting money and vanishing because some assignments are not very complex but it is just the attitude, sometimes you tender for jobs when you don't even have equipment. We are interested in your performance but if you are being dishonest, you will end up having an innocent man Rupiah Banda being called names," Mulongoti added.

Mulongoti, who said the government would soon start publishing names of contractors that failed to perform in the media, added that it was unfair that politicians were insulted on a daily basis and yet the people entrusted to do the road works were not working.

And one of the local contractors Ireen Chilufya, who is also managing director of ICM general dealers, appealed to the government to reintroduce the advance payment policy.

In response to Chilufya's appeal, RDA executive director Erasmus Chilundika said the issue of advance payment for contractors was being addressed.

Chilundika said the payments would be well regulated because the agency wanted contractors to indicate what items had been bought with the money.

Labels: CONTRACTORS, INFRASTRUCTURE, MIKE MULONGOTI, ROADS

posted by MrK @ 2:24 PM