UNRA under fire over multiple contracts
Oct 20, 2010
THE Uganda Roads Authority must stop awarding contracts to firms handling many projects because it promotes shoddy work and delays work, Parliament has directed.
By Mary Karugaba
THE Uganda Roads Authority must stop awarding contracts to firms handling many projects because it promotes shoddy work and delays work, Parliament has directed.
“Most of these firms with many projects first wait to complete one before they can deploy on another site since they don’t have enough equipment or manpower to undertake all of them at once. Therefore, as a committee we have agreed that you should never award any jobs to a firm with an ongoing project,†Nandala Mafabi, the committee chairman, said.
The roads agency officials were appearing before the parliamentary committee on public accounts to answer queries raised by the Auditor General’s audit report for the 2008/09 financial year on Tuesday.
According to the report, the roads agency gives contracts to companies and consultants with many other running projects, compromising quality.
It was discovered that contractors also fail to deliver on projects because of low capacity in terms of equipment and human resources.
Some contractors abandoned projects because they were over-stretched, the report indicated, citing Zzimwe Hardware and Construction Limited.
The firm was accused of abandoning works on the Arua-Manibe-Wandi and Manibe-Koboko-Orobo roads during the time the audit report was compiled.
However, Eng. Peter Ssebanakita, the roads agency executive director, told the committee that they had reviewed the bids evaluation process, and contractors were now required to declare all the ongoing works they would be undertaking at the time of bidding.
“This information is used to evaluate their bids to avoid a situation where a bidder is given more than one contract at the same time unless we are convinced beyond doubt that the contractor has the capacity and capability to handle such commitments,†he explained.
The MPs also asked the roads agency to ring-fence certain jobs for locals, saying that some companies, especially from China, come with their own workers, putting Ugandans at a disadvantage.
THE Uganda Roads Authority must stop awarding contracts to firms handling many projects because it promotes shoddy work and delays work, Parliament has directed.
“Most of these firms with many projects first wait to complete one before they can deploy on another site since they don’t have enough equipment or manpower to undertake all of them at once. Therefore, as a committee we have agreed that you should never award any jobs to a firm with an ongoing project,†Nandala Mafabi, the committee chairman, said.
The roads agency officials were appearing before the parliamentary committee on public accounts to answer queries raised by the Auditor General’s audit report for the 2008/09 financial year on Tuesday.
According to the report, the roads agency gives contracts to companies and consultants with many other running projects, compromising quality.
It was discovered that contractors also fail to deliver on projects because of low capacity in terms of equipment and human resources.
Some contractors abandoned projects because they were over-stretched, the report indicated, citing Zzimwe Hardware and Construction Limited.
The firm was accused of abandoning works on the Arua-Manibe-Wandi and Manibe-Koboko-Orobo roads during the time the audit report was compiled.
However, Eng. Peter Ssebanakita, the roads agency executive director, told the committee that they had reviewed the bids evaluation process, and contractors were now required to declare all the ongoing works they would be undertaking at the time of bidding.
“This information is used to evaluate their bids to avoid a situation where a bidder is given more than one contract at the same time unless we are convinced beyond doubt that the contractor has the capacity and capability to handle such commitments,†he explained.
The MPs also asked the roads agency to ring-fence certain jobs for locals, saying that some companies, especially from China, come with their own workers, putting Ugandans at a disadvantage.