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Uganda: Foreign Firms Dominate Construction Contracts
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New Vision (Kampala)
23 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Mikaili Sseppuya
Kampala
"ONLY two foreign companies are doing 60% of the available construction jobs. A country which has no local construction industry is not going to grow," the chairman of the Uganda National Association of Building and Civil Engineering Contractors (UNABCEC), Gumisiriza Birantana, has said.
Birantana said the Government should formulate a national construction policy and give preferential treatment to local contractors while awarding tenders.
"We also need a body to register all contractors and contracts and enforce byelaws. It should encourage the private sector to use registered contractors to avoid a situation where we do not even know who built some major hotels in town," he said during a workshop at the Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala.
The workshop was organised by the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA, the works ministry, the Uganda National Roads Authority and UNABCEC.
Birantana said the cost of bidding documents and bid security were too high, which require hard-to-get bank guarantees and makes local firms less competitive.
He said the stringent criteria for certain contracts also limits local companies.
Edgar Agaba, the PPDA executive director, said the institution supports preference schemes including sub-contracting under clear guidelines.
Agaba said PPDA also supports punishment of contractors who engage in shoddy work and unprofessional behaviour.
A consulting engineer, Julius Musimenta of the Association of Professional Engineers, said there was need to review the classification of contractors and consultants.
"The classification of contractors and consultants under the current registration system in government departments lacks a legal basis. The scheme does not also differentiate between foreign and local firms to avoid unfair competition," he said.
Musimenta said the Government should encourage joint ventures between local and foreign companies to enable the indigenous firms learn from the international firms.
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He said government departments should ensure companies are paid on time because the contractors think it is the consulting engineers who delay their payments.
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