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South Africa: Highway Delays Will Cost Taxpayers R75 Million
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Cape Argus (Cape Town)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Leila Samodien
The provincial transport department has rubbished allegations by the DA that delays in the construction of two major highways would cost taxpayers R75-million extra and that they would not be ready for the 2010 World Cup.
The DA issued a statement on Wednesday saying that the Koeberg Interchange and Table Bay Boulevard would not be completed in time.
DA spokesperson on transport Robin Carlisle alleged that Transport MEC Marius Fransman was personally responsible for the delays because he pushed for the tenders to go to one particular contractor.
But Fransman dismissed the accusations as nothing more than "an attempt to gain political mileage".
Carlisle said that, in addition to the two major highways, the rehabilitation of another road, the Whitebridge N2 access to Knysna, would also be delayed.
He said work on the Koeberg Interchange had started six months behind schedule. Tenders for Table Bay Boulevard and Whitebridge had not yet been issued, even though they were meant to be awarded three months ago, he said.
According to Carlisle, these delays would be subject to escalation costs of up to 13 percent, or R75-million, a burden the taxpayers would essentially have to bear. He said contractors and provincial sources had informed him that Fransman had caused more delays because of his "interference in trying to ensure" that the contracts were awarded to Vusela Construction.
However, Fransman said all three projects were on track and the phases that had initially been set out to be completed for 2010 would be finished. He acknowledged that, since they were multibillion-rand projects, all three roads would not be fully completed by the World Cup; however, this had been known from the outset.
"There will be pressure on the contractors in terms of time because there are a host of requirements according to the contract. For example, they must empower small contractors and create broad-based BEE opportunities," said Fransman.
The R690-million contract for the Koeberg Interchange was awarded to Group Five and Power Construction in April in a joint venture.
Fransman's spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said that, contrary to Carlisle's claims, the Whitebridge tender had been awarded to Hawn Inglis more than two months ago and they were "already on site". The Table Bay Boulevard contract would be awarded "soon".
Ntabazalila said Fransman had "nothing to do" with the awarding of contracts. He said an independent committee was responsible for tenders.
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Fransman said: "I'm not going to engage with the DA in making petty politics of road construction they will be challenged. There are no delays that will cripple any of the projects."
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