Contractors urged to up thier game
Contractors in Mpumalanga have been assured that they will not have their work reduced during the delivery process. This assurance has been made by Human Settlements MEC Violet Siwela at a recent meeting in Mbombela when she addressed all contractors currently delivering houses and other infrastructure projects in Mpumalanga. “No units will be taken away from you. The stories that are circulating in the media about reduction of work must remain there, as they are in the business of making news”, she charged. This follows fears that some contractors are struggling to deliver on their work therefore they will have scope of work reduced.
The meeting is part of MEC Siwela’s monthly stakeholder engagement to assess progress on service delivery. Such meetings assist the department to measure progress on the ground since the appointment of all contractors. The meeting gave MEC Siwela a sense of challenges and good practices unfolding on the ground. The performance by the contractors indicated that there is a poor compliance on safety matters, lack of urgency, poor contribution towards job creation, slow beneficiary approval, and inept payment of sub-contractors and labourers. In mitigating these observations, compliance on the following issues be adhered to:
- All necessary safety matters be dealt with urgently,
- Penalty clause on defaulting contractors to be imposed,
- Contractors to ensure payment of sub-contractors and suppliers,
- Officials to assist with beneficiary approvals,
- Non-compliant contactors on EPWP to be penalised, and
- Contractors urged to review their delivery programmes.
The contractors committed to increase their teams on site and work even during holidays and weekends to expedite delivery. “All contractors with capacity must try by all means to empower their emerging counterparts”, urged MEC Siwela. The department’s focus for the current financial year is developing integrated settlements and sewer support at fast growing towns at the municipalities of Mbombela, eMalahleni, Steve Tshwete, Victor Khanye, Govan Mbeki, and Nkomazi. The department has so far delivered nearly 6000 housing units of the total allocation of 8114. The MEC’s monthly meetings will continue.
Enquiries:
Freddy Ngobe
Tel: 013 766 6014
Cell: 082 859 4630
E-mail: flngobe@mpg.gov.za or freddyl.ngobe@gmail.com
