30 Nov 2015

Some Jwaneng Town councillors have expressed displeasure at delayed projects in the township.

Responding to the mayor’s speech during a full council meeting recently, nominated councillor, Mr Benjamin Bakwena said projects that took too long to complete were not only costly to the council, but also affected the welfare of the employees.

“Some of these projects include construction of council staff houses and if they don’t get finished on time, they affect the employees’ welfare and ultimately performance at work,” he noted.

He said the Jwaneng Town Council should review its tender policies so that contractors were made to complete projects on time to avoid a similar challenge in the future.

Another councillor, Mr Ronicah Ntsimako of Mogale Ward said delayed projects posed a challenge to the contractor workers, as they go unpaid during the period when work has stopped. 

He said the council leadership should engage company owners on this issue because their delays were affecting the livelihoods of workers.

When addressing the council meeting, the town mayor, Mr Tsietsi Oodira-Kwenje said there were delays in the construction of staff houses through the General Fund. 

“The construction of four, two-bedroomed semi-detached houses was now at 95 per cent completion after delays caused by designs for water reticulation.

 The project would be handed over by the end of November 2015, if the contractor does not experience any unforeseen circumstances that may hamper its progress,” he said.

Furthermore, he noted that another project for the construction of three two-bedroomed semi-detached houses was being re-tendered after the first contract was terminated. 

He said even though it was an unfortunate development, he was optimistic that the situation will improve if there was a mutual work relationship between the private and public sector.

He also said the construction of the supplies boundary wall was 98 per cent complete even though it was supposed to have been completed. He said the contractor was still on site and penalties would be imposed if further delays were encountered.

“Punitive measures will be taken against the contractor if he is not able to perform his obligations to deliver the project,” he explained.

On backlog eradication, Mr Oodira-Kwenje regretted that the progress of projects was unsatisfactory, with only one of the four projects having been handed over to the council.

 He said the other project was partially handed over and the contractor was yet to deliver on the supply of furniture and installation of pin boards.

He said while the construction of two, two-bedroomed semi-detached houses at Unit 8 was still 90 per cent complete, the construction of double storey flats at Unit 5 was the one behind schedule. 

He said the latter was initially should have been completed on August 10, 2015 but it was later revised to December 7, 2015 which he said was still far-fetched.

“Efforts to facilitate completion of projects are still being made by Jwaneng Town Council through direct procurement procedures,” he said. Ends