…by “deliberately” delaying state projects
…As airport upgrade budget skyrockets from M50 million to M184 million
Mohloai Mpesi
THE parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has accused construction giant, LSP Construction, of “milking” the state by “deliberately” delaying projects while escalating their costs.
The PAC spoke this week after it learned that the cost of refurbishment of Moshoeshoe I International Airport had escalated from an initial M50 million to M184 million.
It said this debacle mirrored that of the construction of the Royal Palace, which has still not been completed 15 years after construction started in 2010. The budget for the palace has since escalated from an initial M170 million to more than M450 million with the project still uncompleted.
The PAC is concerned that the airport upgrade project will follow the Royal Palace route with more budget increases on the way. Both the Royal Palace project and the Moshoeshoe I Airport upgrade are being undertaken by LSP Construction, as the main contractor.
Acting PAC chairman, Montoeli Masoetsa, came out guns blazing during a facility tour of the airport this week. He blamed LSP for the huge cost escalations in the state projects it was undertaking, accusing the company of being “contend” with slowing things down while looking for loopholes to charge more.
There appeared to have been no one from LSP to speak for the company as Mr Masoetsa lashed out during the PAC’s facility visit of the airport on Tuesday.
The MPs decided to visit the airport to assess progress after learning that a certificate of payment of M7 million had been issued for LSP while another for M3 million was being prepared.
Earlier on Monday in a closed sitting with Ministry of Public Works and Transport Principal Secretary, Tšepang Koele, and Building Design Services (BDS) Director, Motheba Letsoela, PAC members had been told by Ms Koele that the airport upgrade cost had escalated to M184 million.
The PAC also learned that the two payment certificates had been issued to pay LSP construction a total of M10 million, prompting their facility tour.
However, upon arrival at the airport, the MPs were disappointed with what they saw. Nothing they had seen justified the M10 million, they said.
“The reason we are here is because yesterday in a committee meeting, we established that there was an instruction of issuance of a certificate for the ministry to pay LSP M7 million. Right now, the PS was on the verge of giving another instruction for the second certificate of M3 million. We are here to see where the M7 million has been used and why there was a hurry for the second certificate to be issued…….” Mr Masoetsa said.
“As Members of Parliament, we allocated M50 million for this project, but yesterday we were told that this project is going to cost M184 million. The question is, where will this other money come from? All the questions we are asking emanate from the discussions we had yesterday in a meeting where we were told by the PS and BDS about these issues.”
BDS Supervisor, Letela Matšela, explained the money was for site establishment as well as the initial works for LSP to add an additional floor in the main airport building.
But Mr Masoetsa scoffed at the explanation, accusing LSP of “deliberately” delaying the project and inflating prices intentionally, as the company “had done” with the Royal Palace.
He suggested LSP was a problematic contractor because of its record at the Royal Place.
“Parliament is allocating money, but LSP does not finish the Palace. We have to make a decision whether the work that is being done here is worth the amount that is being allocated.
“We were told that M50 million was allocated for this project of the airport, based on the budget that was proposed. It is surprising that yesterday we were told of M184 million,” he said.
He gave the Maseru District Hospital (Queen II), built by Chinese contractors, as an example of good, efficient contractor effort. The project was commenced 10 years after the start of the Royal Palace but had since been completed while the latter stalls.
“This company (LSP) is the one that has delayed the Royal Palace for 15 years. Queen II hospital was started and completed by the Chinese, and it is now functioning, while this company is delaying. We don’t have to play marbles with these kind of people…..,” he said.
MP Mokhothu Makhalanyane said the PAC must monitor the airport project to ensure history did not repeat itself. He suggested regular visits while asking the Auditor-General to probe the Royal Palace project and hold LSP Construction accountable.
“It is embarrassing that the whole Palace of His Majesty the King has not been completed….,” he said.
However, Mr Matšela tried to explain at length the work that was being undertaken and that would be done in the airport project to ensure it meets international standards.
However, he drew the ire of the MPs when it was suggested that there was a duplication of work already done by Leseli Techinical Engineering (LTE), whose contract has since been terminated, and what LSP was doing.
“How many duplicates of work have you done? We are aware that LSP is a second contractor. There was Leseli Technical Engineering (LTE). How much of the work did LTE make, and how much were they paid? Which tasks is LSP repeating that were made by LTE?”
Ms Koele tried to explain that LTE had only done consultancy work while LSP was doing the actual construction.
Another PAC member, Moeketsi Motšoane, insisted there was duplication as LSP appeared to have made alterations to LTE’s designs to “justify” getting more money.
Mr Matšela seemed to concede that changes had indeed been made though these were because of need more than expediency.
“The design that was already available has been changed here and there from the original design. Some things have been added, you can see that from the drawings.
“It is one of the challenges that we have because there are now new things in that design: Water channels have been made to channel the water to the downpipes. There is an extension of columns made to ensure that we can build upward and hold the roof of the storey…..,” he explained to the chagrin of the MPs who vowed to hold the ministry officials and LSP accountable.
