Government moves to end construction malpractice with new General Inspectorate of Public Works

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Government moves to end construction malpractice with new General Inspectorate of Public Works

2:17 CAT | 24 Oct 2018

Ana Comoana: Photo: Notícias

The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved a decree creating a General Inspectorate of Public Works (IGOP), intended to ensure order and safety in public works, a sector that has been a breeding ground for dishonesty, O Pais reports.

“The numbers speak for themselves. And they show that state contracting is a real ‘milk cow’ for many contractors operating in the country,” the newspaper adds.

According to government data, over the last 10 years, 540 construction work projects, including public buildings, housing and roads, featured in the statistics for the worst possible reasons. They were abandoned, stalled, completed late or of markedly poor quality.

These failings, according to the government, are due to the “absence or deficiency of inspection, coupled with the dishonesty of contractors”.

The government names nine critical factors contributing to this situation: poor compliance with the rules and regulations in the execution of projects; deficiencies in the tendering and contract awarding procedures; inflating of prices in the contracts; payment for works not actually executed; use of low-quality materials in construction; works not completed or abandoned by the contractor; and general dishonesty throughout the processes.

In general, the executive understands that “these factors derive from the lack of an institution with the authority to meet the current challenges”, and has decided to create the IGOP to bring some discipline to the sector.

“The overall objective is to ensure greater control of the processes throughout the chain, from the design of public works to their execution, regardless of the level or sector of specific activity to which it belongs,” Council of Ministers spokeswoman Ana Comoana explained at the end of the cabinet session.

Impact on public accounts

Government statistics indicate that the 540 ill-fated construction works noted in the last decade have cost the country nearly eight billion meticais.

The list of non-performing construction works is led by public buildings, totalling 472, with estimated losses of 1.8 billion meticais. Roadworks come in second place, with a total of 43 works abandoned or left unfinished, costing the state at 5.4 billion meticais.

The water sector registered 14 non-performing works, which resulted in the loss of 29 million meticais, while public buildings for housing registered 11 projects, which resulted in losses of 391 million meticais.

The government believes the IGOP, an organ with legal personality and administrative autonomy, will prove the key to ending these arbitrary losses.

Source: O País