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Botswana: Gaolathe in P403 Million Gaffe?
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
20 March 2008
Posted to the web 24 March 2008
Tshireletso Motlogelwa
A statement by the Minister of Finance and Development Planning Baledzi Gaolathe in Parliament this week has caused consternation in the building and engineering services fraternity.
Answering a question from Tswapong North MP, Thebe Mogami on the number of government projects allocated under the new direct appointment system of sourcing consultancy services, the minister indicated that 33 projects were awarded by eight ministries. He put the value of the projects at P403 million.
However industry officials maintain that the said projects have not been awarded. "I believe the minister was misled into thinking that these projects have been awarded. They have not been awarded, all 34 of them," says Jubilee Mokgosi a member of the BOCCIM project allocation committee, a body which played a role in the development of the system.
Mokgosi says the new process, which was put in place to quicken implementation of government projects is yet to kick-off, contrary to what Gaolathe told Parliament. The new system was supposed to start operating in December last year.
The procedure was introduced after government's concern that projects were falling behind schedule, often because of the tendering process. As a result, the new system requires that all projects costing under P25 million should be awarded through direct appointment of engineering consultants.
A Presidential Directive titled Measures for MWT to Address Project Implementation Bottlenecks states that: "Engagement of consultancy services for projects below P25 million be done by direct appointment of consultants in respect of projects above P25 million competitive bidding by the prospective consultants as multi-disciplinary integrated project teams or consortia".
Gaolathe indicated that although he trusted the information given to him by civil servants, he would investigate the issue today. "I cannot from the top of my head say whether what is being said is true or not. I would need to check my files to apprise myself on the issue. For now I can tell you that this is what I have been told by my officers," said Gaolathe.
Freddy Modise, director of the government Department of Engineering Services was not available for comment.
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The executive chairman of the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board Armando Lionjanga said he would comment later after checking the files.
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