RA to classify contractors for capital projects
Due to the economic downturn and a moratorium which was placed on new projects, there has been a decrease in development projects.
The Roads Authority (RA) is in the process of classifying Namibian and international contractors to protect local participation in road construction projects.
The chief executive officer of the RA, Conrad Lutombi, said the classification of contractors or construction businesses would take into account the size of the business, its expertise, experience and financial capability.
Lutombi spoke at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in Windhoek on Monday.
Finance minister Calle Schlettwein in his budget speech last month said construction projects will provide the option for 25% of the contract value to local entities through a competitive bidding process. This is to encourage local participation, Schlettwein said.
Lutombi due to the economic downturn and a moratorium which was placed on new projects, there has been a decrease in development projects - particularly for the upgrade of roads to bitumen standard since 2013.
Out of a total of 570 capital projects, government halted work on 320 at various phases, which were earmarked for implementation during the 2017/18 fiscal year.
Competition
“What we have also seen is that you have a situation where the small contractors, emerging contractors and fully-fledged Namibian contractors and foreign contractors sometimes compete on the [road] works even if the value may probably not be accepted by a foreign country for a foreign company to participate,” Lutombi said.
He said the reason why local and foreign companies could compete with one another is because there are no restrictions for companies to tender for projects.
“Restrictions should be part of the tender requirements for people to know that they can participate in this tender or not,” he said.
Lutombi said the RA would establish where capacity lacks internally or locally for some projects and such projects would be opened up to international contractors. – Own report and Nampa
The chief executive officer of the RA, Conrad Lutombi, said the classification of contractors or construction businesses would take into account the size of the business, its expertise, experience and financial capability.
Lutombi spoke at a breakfast meeting hosted by the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI) in Windhoek on Monday.
Finance minister Calle Schlettwein in his budget speech last month said construction projects will provide the option for 25% of the contract value to local entities through a competitive bidding process. This is to encourage local participation, Schlettwein said.
Lutombi due to the economic downturn and a moratorium which was placed on new projects, there has been a decrease in development projects - particularly for the upgrade of roads to bitumen standard since 2013.
Out of a total of 570 capital projects, government halted work on 320 at various phases, which were earmarked for implementation during the 2017/18 fiscal year.
Competition
“What we have also seen is that you have a situation where the small contractors, emerging contractors and fully-fledged Namibian contractors and foreign contractors sometimes compete on the [road] works even if the value may probably not be accepted by a foreign country for a foreign company to participate,” Lutombi said.
He said the reason why local and foreign companies could compete with one another is because there are no restrictions for companies to tender for projects.
“Restrictions should be part of the tender requirements for people to know that they can participate in this tender or not,” he said.
Lutombi said the RA would establish where capacity lacks internally or locally for some projects and such projects would be opened up to international contractors. – Own report and Nampa
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