Solution to construction works procurement inadequacies

By Simon J. Mone

The sight of news stories about loss of huge sums of money due to substandard construction works in the country is an impediment to the development of the local construction industry. 

This has gone on for long enough that there is urgent need to find a sustainable solution to some of these loses. We can control this problem through the following:

Since it is well known that the procurement process has been largely responsible for this problem, the Government can consider attracting foreign consultancy firms to manage both the tender process and the construction works itself for a given period of time. 

These firms can have defined terms of reference to build the capacity of the local industry. 

The first advantage it provides is; it strengthens professionalism in the construction industry as a majority of construction projects in Uganda are managed by people who do not appreciate the importance of integrity, quality and as a result company image. 

Secondly foreign firms will also ensure that the local procurement process that has become an income generating activity rather than a system to procure competent contractors is professionalized. 

It is important to make sure that only those contractors capable of outputting products that are equal to the amount of money committed to such projects are procured. 

In a professional environment, it is impossible to find contractors repudiating from the site because of misuse of logistics meant to complete the performance of contracts that they enter into.

Thirdly, foreign companies maintain the high quality standards expected in terms of output for finished products, so involving them will build our capacity to uphold these high quality standards. 

They will impart on to the local industry the integrity to make sure that, for example, a road designed to serve for 25 years is constructed to serve for exactly that design life. 

Inviting the foreign trade will empower the local technocrats with the ability to integrate the skills that they have gained from the universities appropriately to achieve these desired quality standards in contracts that they perform.

Also the issue of the Government paying out money to contractors for works that have not been finished will not arise because there is company image to protect. 

It has become public secret that before a contractor is given any construction project, a percentage of the contract sum is given to a select group of people involved in the tender process. 

This has completely killed the development of infrastructure in the country. A contractor is motivated to tender because of profit and if that profit is not promising he abandons the site. 

The Government will then find it difficult to pursue the matter but prefers to stay silent for fear of being exposed because a group of people have already compromised themselves.

The other advantage is that foreign companies have the financial capacity to implement the works from start to finish, unlike the local companies who only depend on reimbursements from the Government. 

If the Government delays the payment process, the works stalls which is not good for the sustainable development of the local infrastructure. 

When this is done, there will be a very significant change in the infrastructural development in the country and that will, in a way, help solve the biggest problem that the procurement industry faces which is the means of dealing with companies that abandon the site after failing to complete their contractual obligations.

The writer is a civil engineer