13 Nov 2017

Youth in the construction industry in Maun have been encouraged to be competitive locally and internationally.

Minister of Infrastructure and Housing Development, Mr Nonofo Molefhi made the remarks at a construction Youth Pitso in Maun last week.

He noted that government has strategies in place to empower young people in the construction industry in order to capacitate them in order to have a competitive edge.

Mr Molefhi, however, said government would not exempt young people when it came to delivery of quality projects.

“There is no compromise in standard, cost of project, time, quality and workmanship,” he said. 

He said it was a norm for some construction companies to fail to uphold workmanship standards in projects. 

Some, he said, failed to engage enough staff and qualified staff which hampered progress and the completion of projects on time.

The other concern, he said, was failure to pay employees engaged by construction companies, adding that government could not manage to take that responsibility as some had suggested.

“Some have poor planning schedules for their projects and fail to secure materials on time while some have parallel construction projects running the same time,” he said.

Mr Molefhi said youth in the construction industry should familiarise themselves with rules and regulations that govern the industry.

He noted that a Construction Industry Regulation Authority was underway, adding that it  would require all expertise in the construction industry to be registered on order to hold them accountable.

Mr Molefhi also noted that 33 projects under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) were awarded to youth constructors in the North West region.

Deputy permanent secretary in the ministry, Ms Halakangwa Mbulai said the Youth Pitso was a platform for the ministry to appreciate the challenges faced by youth in the construction industry. Ms Mbulai said the youth were critical in building a robust construction industry in the country.

Commenting, some youth constructors complained about sourcing building materials in far away places which consumed most of their funds.

Ms Doreen Tau appreciated government programmes availed to assist the youth in the construction industry, but said there was a challenge of unskilled labour which in turn affected the quality of projects.

Ms Tau also said there was need for a data base for skilled labourers across the country in order to make it accessible to construction companies.

Minister Molefhi, however, said the existing arrangement was that labourers should be registered with the Department of Labour offices across the country. BOPA