13 Nov 2023

There are 17 projects under the Ministry of Transport and Public Works whose implementation has been delayed for more than three years.

Responding to a question in Parliament from Takatokwane MP, Mr Tshoganetso Leuwe, the Minister of Transport and Public Works, Mr Eric Molale said the projects were in two categories, those that had been delayed but were still being implemented and those that were delayed and were ultimately terminated.

“Nine projects that are delayed and still ongoing (two roads and seven buildings) were awarded at a total cost of more than P478 million. Eight projects that were delayed and terminated, four roads and 4 buildings were awarded at a cost of more than P168 million,” he said regarding

projects that have delayed for more than three years and the cost thereof.

Takatokwane MP had also wanted to know action being taken to address the problem, whether the delayed and unfinished projects were awarded fairly and transparently and what the ministry was doing regarding the repeatedly voiced allegations of corruption in the evaluation and award of tenders for construction.

In an effort to address such, Mr Molale said his ministry had come up with some initiatives to improve delivery of projects among them clear crafting of the invitation to tender as well as ensuring the scope of work that corresponded with what was on the ground. 

These include tightening of the evaluations of tenders to avoid insider trading soliciting, which in turn reduces litigations thereby allowing seamless project delivery, ensuring that letters of awards are not to be treated as contracts.

Another initiative, he said was signing of contracts on site in order to foster relationship and partnerships with the community and strengthening supervision of projects, hence the introduction of the Development Manager Model.

To mitigate against shortage of skilled personnel, the minister said the ministry would further deliberately coordinate training of technicians and artisans, adding that the ongoing review of legislation for regulatory bodies would also enable registration of all professionals and professionals in appropriate categories.

This, he said would therefore cause for inclusion of all requisite classes of personnel in the construction industry.

He said his ministry had clustered roads to be maintained with the intention of having machinery and equipment resident in each cluster.

Due to procurement issues, Mr Molale said the repair of 49 graders, earmarked for the clusters, had delayed but in the meantime, the ministry had asked District Commissioner and Council Secretaries to prepare an inventory of privately owned plant and machinery, within their respective districts.

Once available, he said the inventory would help focus on local procurement which should reduce time taken on procurement, improve on fair distribution and allocation of work amongst contractors and help avoid few contractors hoarding projects.

“We will be studying and evaluating a few of these with a view to understanding what may have gone wrong. Going forward, the Revised Procurement Act will be followed to the latter. It should, however, be noted that these failed projects predate the Revised Act,” he added.

Currently, he said the ministry was finalising Project Governance Framework and Maintenance Framework, which once approved by government, would be put to use. 

These frameworks, he said aimed at ensuring that project and maintenance scheduling yielded good quality infrastructure at all times, and within cost and completed on time. Ends