…their replacement houses should not be built on sandy excuses
There are times when Scrutator suspects that some officials assigned to work on transformative public projects spend their weekends watching horror movies and then use them as policy manuals on Monday mornings.
How else does one explain the astonishing possibility that the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority (LHDA) may hand a M500 million contract to build homes for displaced villagers to a contractor whose name has become synonymous with one thing: deadlines that arrive alone.
The project in question is not some fancy office block for overfed bureaucrats. It is not a golf estate for ministers. It is not a luxury lodge for consultants to hold workshops on the importance of holding workshops.
It is housing for ordinary Basotho whose lives have been turned upside down by the Polihali Dam project.
These are people who have lost land, grazing areas, homes, livelihoods and certainty. Some have been waiting years for compensation. Some are still waiting for promises made during Phase One of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project more than three decades ago.
Religious Miracles
When His Majesty King Letsie III recently spoke at the opening of the Senqu Bridge, he could not have been clearer.
Treat affected communities fairly.
Restore livelihoods.
Respect the sacrifices people have made.
Simple enough.
Yet somewhere in the procurement labyrinth, somebody apparently looked at these noble sentiments and concluded that the best way to honour them was to place the fate of displaced villagers in the hands of a contractor whose recent history has generated more questions than confidence.
Now before the lawyers start hyperventilating into paper bags, let us be fair.
Unik denies wrongdoing.
The company says it completed the works it was contracted to do.
It says subsequent works carried out by other contractors were outside its contractual obligations.
It says delays happen in construction.
All true.
Delays do happen.
The only problem is that with Unik, delays seem to happen with the reliability of sunrise.
The company was reportedly penalised on previous LHDA projects.
It became embroiled in disputes over variations.
Completion dates apparently developed a habit of moving further away whenever anyone looked at them.
And now we are expected to believe that the ideal candidate for a M500 million resettlement project is the same company that struggled to satisfy stakeholders on projects worth a fraction of that amount.
That requires a level of faith normally associated with religious miracles.
Poor shooter
One is reminded of a football coach who watches a striker miss penalties all season and then decides to let him take the decisive kick in the World Cup final.
What could possibly go wrong?
The most alarming thing is not even the size of the contract.
It is the nature of the project.
If a shopping centre is delayed, shoppers grumble.
If a lodge is delayed, tourists complain.
But when replacement housing is delayed, families suffer.
Children suffer.
Entire communities suffer.
People cannot live inside procurement reports.
They cannot sleep under evaluation criteria.
They cannot shelter from rain beneath consultant recommendations.
They need actual houses.
Finished houses.
On time.
And that can only be achieved if this contract is awarded to a contractor who actually completes projects timeously. Not a poor penalty shooter at the World Cup.
The concern is therefore not whether Unik is Chinese.
The concern is whether Unik is capable.
Those are two entirely different questions.
The nationality of a contractor should never matter.
Performance should.
Results should.
Track record should.
Value for money should.
The ability to complete projects within agreed timelines should.
Those are the only criteria that should matter.
And if any contractor — whether Chinese, South African, Mosotho, Martian or from the planet Jupiter — has a record that raises legitimate concerns, then those concerns must be scrutinised carefully before another major contract is awarded.
Intoxicating optimism
What makes this situation particularly puzzling is that the Roads Directorate reportedly rejected one of Unik’s bids on grounds that included concerns about an allegedly unbalanced bid and the risk of cost escalation and performance failure.
If one arm of government is worried about such risks, why should another arm of government suddenly become intoxicated with optimism?
Did Unik undergo a miraculous transformation on the road between Maseru and Mokhotlong?
Did angels descend from heaven carrying improved project management systems?
Was there a Damascus Road conversion in which delayed projects suddenly became punctual projects?
The public deserves answers.
More importantly, the affected communities deserve answers.
For decades, people living in project areas have been told to sacrifice for national development.
They have sacrificed land.
They have sacrificed livelihoods.
They have sacrificed certainty.
Now they are being asked to trust that those responsible for compensating them have chosen wisely.
Trust, unfortunately, is earned.
And the LHDA must understand that trust becomes difficult when the contractor being considered is already the subject of vigorous debate about previous performance.
This is why the authority must proceed with extreme caution.
The cheapest bid is not always the cheapest project.
The lowest price often becomes the highest cost when delays, disputes, variations and extensions start multiplying like rabbits.
The objective should not be merely to award a contract.
The objective should be to ensure that displaced Basotho are housed quickly, properly and with dignity.
That, after all, is what His Majesty was talking about.
The King was not asking for procurement gymnastics.
He was not asking for consultant acrobatics.
He was asking for fairness.
And fairness surely includes ensuring that vulnerable families are not handed over to procurement experiments disguised as construction contracts.
If there is even the slightest doubt about a contractor’s ability to deliver, then the LHDA should think very carefully before signing on the dotted line.
Because when the rains arrive in Mokhotlong, procurement committees will not be standing outside in the cold.
Consultants will not be sleeping under leaking roofs.
Evaluation panels will not be queuing for water.
The people who will suffer are the very Basotho whom the King has repeatedly urged the nation to protect.
And that is why this decision matters.
Half a billion maloti is a lot of money.
But dignity, trust and the welfare of displaced communities are worth far more.
The LHDA should remember that before it awards anyone the keys to other people’s future homes.
Tente’s last stand
It therefore goes without saying that this humungous project should be Ntate Tente Tente’s last stand in defending the interests of the poor masses of Polihali.
He is after all the boss of the LHDA. Every buck stops on his desk. First, he must ensure that the so-called consultants – behind the recommendation of Unik for the Authority’s most important project (replacement housing), despite its failures on two other Authority projects of a lesser value, are sent for psychiatry examinations. They mustn’t be sent to ordinary psychiatrists. But the most competent ones.
Secondly, he must ensure that this recommendation is rejected in toto in favour of the appointment of a competent contractor. And there are lots of them.
Thirdly, Ntate Tente should know this matter is going to be closely watched until every displaced villager have a roof over their head. If he screws up and proceeds with a doubtful contractor, Scrutator will ensure this matter follows him to his grave.
This is perhaps one of the most important contracts to be overseen by the LHDA as it involves the direct welfare of our people, who deserve better replacement houses. The poor masses displaced in all the phases of the Highlands Water Project have suffered enough. Some opportunistic civic activists have even built careers out of their suffering. Which explains the multitude of court cases against the LHDA overcompensation issues. The least Ntate Tente can and should do is ensure that Basotho not only get their replacement houses, but get them timeously. No ping-pong with the lives of our poor people.
Ache!!!
