Public contract delegates want buildings costs harmonised

Public Contract (MINMAP) delegates and officials of the Ministry of Public Contracts in the Southwest Region have called on the Government to harmonise the cost of constructing public buildings to avoid confusion and ensure transparency.

They made the call at the close of their coordination meeting that held on the campus of the Government Technical High School, GTHS Kumba, on September 19.

The MINMAP officials, equally, discussed measures to step up the level of realisation of public contracts in the region through the contracts award procedure which falls within their competence.

Revisiting the high points of the meeting, host Delegate, Martin Aka of Meme Division, stated that the developmental benefits will be clear if Government decides to put the cost of constructing of buildings at the same level.

Aka cited the example of FCFA 2 million disparity between the Ministry of Basic Education and Secondary Education; when it comes to the construction of classrooms. While one puts the cost according to Government standards at FCFA 16,000,000 for two classrooms, the same classrooms cost FCFA 18,000,000 in the sister Ministry.

Correcting this disparity and dealing with the perennial problem of the lowest bidder in the award of Public Contracts, kept the delegates in focus through the meeting.

Besides harmonising the cost of buildings, the Public Contracts officials also discussed the problem of bad roads and contractors who fail to deliver projects on time.

Going by the delegates, contractors in difficult areas as Manyu and Ndian Divisions which are noted to having poor roads, must rediscover other road networks.

The observed that, roads such as the Bamenda-Mamfe-Ekok corridor could be of help to contracting firms handling public contracts. To the population, the MINMAP officials recommended a close monitoring of projects under execution in their communities as the best way of contributing to development.

At the level of Meme Division, Martin Aka disclosed that projects were at 55 percent realisation rate. The Delegate confirmed that some municipal councils in Meme, like Kumba I and Konye have been authorised to operate independent tenders boards.

He averred that, having independent tenders boards, does not wipe out the role of the Public Contracts Ministry in ensuring effective execution of projects, especially from ministries that have devolved some of their competencies to the local collectivities.