Maputo — Maputo Municipal Council has rejected some of the work done by contractors to repair roads, pavements, and the sewage system in the city on grounds of poor quality.
The Council has ordered the contractors to complete the jobs properly in the contractually agreed terms.
The work in question concerns repairs to three streets in downtown Maputo and one in the neighbourhood of Malhangalene. The contracts were awarded to a consortium formed by the Italian company CMC, and its Mozambican partner CETA, which won the tender launched in July 2006.
The Maputo city councillor for infrastructures, Mario Macaringue, said the council refused to accept shoddy work, and so the contract will have to complete the work up to the required quality.
Macaringue explained that, because of the poor quality of the work, the contractor will bear the costs of the improvements. If the contractor fails to meet deadlines he will also bear the additional costs, or risk losing the contract to another company, that will complete the job.
"There are cases where, because of its poor quality, work had to be rejected. The contractor must redo it in the agreed terms. The contractor must be disciplined and meet the agreed terms. In that we are ruthless", he insisted.
The work on one of the roads, Paulo Samuel Kankhomba Avenue in Malhangalene, was recently completed, but is already disintegrating into potholes, following rains in the past couple of weeks. The rains have helped the municipal authorities detect the poor quality of some of the repairs.
Comments 1 to 1 of 1 Post a comment
Hi, i would like to praise the city council for this brave move and hope that it will set a precedent for all contractors in Mozambique.
I would also like to encouarage the council to give foreign contractors especially South African ones which have a vast experience in comparison to local companies and have uphold international standards and better work ethics.
Mozambique is a poor country emerging from war and therefore it is not surprising that many local companies don't have enough expertise and by involving foreign companies in these projects, that may help the local companies to start incorporating some of the international best practices to avoid losing out on future contracts.
Mozambique cannot afford to spend millions of dollars in hard earned funds to projects that do not bear fruit.
Last December on the 27th, i personnally became a victim with other South African tourists to the lack of drainage downtown. As we slept at Hotel Ibis, it began pouring in the early hours of moring and within an hour there was a sea of water rising rapidly, our cars at the hotel parking were mostly damaged by water which had nowhere to go. A lot of families had to cancel their holidays and go back home. This is a loss to the country's tourism industry and the municipality, let alone the visitors who probably won't even come back in the future.
I'M A PROUD MOZAMBICAN BUT EVERY TIME I GO HOME IT FEELS LIKE THINGS WILL NEVER CHANGE, TOO MANY POTHOLES, THE ROAD ALONG THE BEACH IS WASHING AWAY AND NOTHING SEEMS TO GO RIGHT. MAPUTO IS THE CAPITAL OF THE COUNTRY BUT IT HAS NOTHING TO SHOW FOR IT. I OPE MY MESSAGE WILL INSPIRE AND ENCOURAGE THOSE WHO CARE TO ACT.
PLEASE WAKE UP AND START DOING THE RIGHT THINGS AND RESTORE OUR DIGNITY AND PRIDE!!
EDUARDO, JOHANNESBURG