By Seleoe Nonyane
The government suffers huge losses due to companies’ failure to complete the work they have been contracted to do, it has emerged.
The completion of some infrastructure projects has been delayed because of contractors who start work and abandon it midstream despite having been allocated the money for implementation; this ends up costing the government far more than it such works have been budgeted for.
Also, this means that the projects’ duration becomes longer than it was planned.
A recent example is that of Ha Thaabe in the Maseru district, where a contractor who secured a tender for electrification in the area abandoned the project, forcing the government to engage the services of a new contractor. That, it was learned, forced the government to cough out more money to ensure the project’s full implementation, in addition to the already budgeted costs.
The completed electrification project was handed over to the communities around Ha Thaabe by the minister of energy Mohapi Mohapinyane last week Friday despite the setback that was experienced after the project commenced four years ago.
During the official launch of electrification at Ha Thaabe village, Mohapinyane condemned what he termed ‘the unacceptable conduct of contactors’, which puts the country at great risk.
He said it was disappointing to learn that such conduct is demonstrated by Basotho nationals who are awarded tenders.
“The project began on November 6 2018 and at that time, the budget for this project amounted to M11 339 498. However, because of the first contractor failing to complete his job we engaged a new contractor.
“We therefore, found B&G Electrical and Construction who demanded M3 684 439 on top of the initial budget. That means the budget for this project now amounted to M15 023 000. Therefore, this shows just how sloppy Basotho nationals are towards their work; this affects the country negatively.
“The legislator of this constituency highlighted that there’s also a delayed water project for this village and this is going to force the government to fork out more money into that project,” he regretted.
He further noted that in the long run when the government awards foreigners with such tenders, the same contractors who are failing to complete their awarded works in turn complain about being sidelined in favour of the foreign companies.
Mohapinyane remarked that there is absolutely no reason the project took such a long time to complete.
The Member of Parliament for the Qeme constituency and leader of All Basotho Convention (ABC) party Nkaku Kabi also blasted the contractors who fail to honour their commitments to finish awarded works.
“This habit of contactors not completing their job needs to come to a halt because it puts a strain on the government; sadly, this practice is very common with Basotho contractors
“Therefore, the only remedy to this menace is to sue those who fail to complete such works in order to recoup the money lost to the defaulting companies.
“This will help us, as the government will not be losing any money and the government will have more funds to electrify other villages,” he said.
Kabi addressed this matter when giving an obvious example of a contractor of the water project for the same village that was supposed to be completed in February 2022.
“I am bringing up this issue because it is necessary that we invest in the growth of Basotho contactors in order for them to become renowned contractors. But, with this continuous incompetence of these Basotho it becomes difficult to achieve that goal,” he lamented.
At the same occasion, the councillor for Qeme, Mathaha Masoabi, revealed that the first contractor did a runner without paying wages to the workers and pleaded that the matter be resolved.
In this infrastructure project, 618 households are to be supplied with power after each household contributed M2000 towards an electrification scheme known as Kolulo Electricity.
A member of the scheme Lefa Thamae said they are pleased that the project has finally been completed and their contributions have benefited them.
