Govt’s sledgehammer falls on faltering road contractors

The Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, has gone tough on defiant road contractors, terminating their contracts in different localities, especially where the population has of recent become restive because of undue delays in completion of their roads.

Also, an appeal has gone to communities affected by the road construction delays to co-operate with the new companies that will hence be allocated the contracts and create a conducive atmosphere for them to do their work on time.

The Minister of Public Works in a press release Wednesday February 3, 2016, cancelled the contracts awarded to ten companies while those of some 16 others were on the line.

The decision, accordingly, was the outcome of consultations held from 18 to 22 January between the Minister and heads of 30 road construction companies in the country.

While the decision cancelled the contracts for 10 companies, 16 others received serious warnings and were requested to produce within a week, a precise timetable for the execution and completion of their contracts.

“We are requesting those who have received warnings to present a clear execution timetable within one week without which they will equally be suspended,” says Emmanuel Djoumessi Nganou in the release.

The meeting between the Ministry of Public Works and contractors, accordingly, was aimed at identifying the challenges encountered by the different actors in the sector, especially in road maintenance projects.

It was disclosed that over 58.000km of roads earmarked for maintenance suffered a setback due to failure by contractors to execute their work. The failure led to a protest by some restive youths in the South and East regions in the country.

The resolutions reached, the release said, will permit the sector right the wrongs and change the narrative in road construction works in the country.

Development actors say the road construction sector is one of the most corrupt in the country with many projects either uncompleted or abandoned, even though records in the Ministry of Finance show billion of FCFA already consumed.

One of the resolutions reached at the Yaounde meeting was the initiation of regular checks and midway inspection of all awarded contracts.

“Hence companies that will be retained for contracts will be subject to regular inspection. There will be no question of simply presentation of documents. If it turns out that companies fail to meet up with expectation judicial measures will be taken against them,” the press release stated.

According to statistics, the Ministry of Public Works, as of 31 December 2015, counted 406 active road maintenance contracts throughout the national territory.

Of that number, only 300 were carried out to acceptable levels while over 100 fell either below level or were completely abandoned.