- We have fired Kaulani Civils (Pty) Limited, the company contracted to construct the road between Koster and Lichtenburg, for non- performance and failure to meet the targets.
- Indeed the writing was on the wall for Kaulani Civils, since the beginning of March this year.
- You will recall, we have on a number of occasions, expressed our disappointment and downright dissatisfaction with their performance
- This was informed by the lack of visible progress on the Koster to Lichtenburg road, and it was evident to us in the beginning of the year already, that Kaulani Civils was falling far behind schedule with the work they started in February 2009.
- Our eyes, we said at the time, cannot lie to us.
- Confirmation of lack of visible progress on the road was corroborated by all daily and frequent users of that road, which we consider extremely important, for the general motoring public, the farming community in the area and other entities doing business in and out of the North West.
- The strategic importance of the Koster-Lichtenburg road to our province cannot be over-emphasised.
- Indeed our patience with Kaulani Civils finally ran out on 14 March when the department of Public Works, Roads and Transport issued them with a notice of intention to terminate the contract.
- They were given 14 days to improve performance on site and or give reasons why we should not fire them.
- Kaulani Civils failed to comply with the March 14 notice and on March 29, the department had no other option but to issue a termination letter of the contract.
- The original target date for the completion of the road in question, was November 2010. The revised completion date was June 2011.
- The contract value for the Koster- Lichtenburg road project was R208 million. It is approximately 80km long but Kaulani Civils were awarded the contract to do 50km.
- To date, the department has paid Kaulani Civils approximately R110 million for work they claim to have performed which is about half the project.
- The contractor vacated site this past weekend, (Saturday 2), and the people they employed to control the STOP/GO signs on the road, also abandoned their posts.
- We have moved swiftly in ensuring that the critical function of controlling traffic be taken over by different company in the interim in order to avert the likelihood of vehicle collisionsespecially at several accident prone hotspots.
- To this end, the department will begin a process to finalise arrangements to invite and appoint a new and competent contactor to complete the remainder of the work on the road between Koster and Lichtenburg.
- We hope to expedite this process, in order to put this road project behind us once and for all
In conclusion:
- We are made to understand that Kaulani Civils, are alleging that late payments due to them and or the non payment for work performed contributed to the situation they now find themselves in.
- I want to dismiss that assertion with contempt.
- Payments due to Kaulani Civils were processed within a reasonable period. Just to demonstrate how hard we tried to honour out commitments with Kaulani Civils:
- I can confirm the last two payments of R3.9 million and R10.6 million were made within 10 days. That was on 1 February and 10 February 2011 respectively.
- On 17 December, last year were paid them R7.5 million and on 11 November we paid them R4.5 million.
- It is therefore ludicrous to even begin to blame government for cracking the whip on contractors, who in spite of our patience, continue to fail the people of the North West and attempt to embarrass government.
- Our action, against Kaulani Civils must serve as a strong warning to others who continue to take government for a ride by cutting corners and delivering sub standard quality to the people of the province.
Province
