A damning report on rehabilitation and upgrading of
Lae city roads released yesterday by Department of Works (DoW) shows that there was massive foul play in awarding of
contracts amounting to almost K200 million.
The report reveals that four contracts were procured
for Stage 1 amounting to K24.4 million, 12 contracts were procured for Stage 2
amounting to K104.3 million plus variations, an additional K28 million was
appropriated in 2012 to settle outstanding claims, and additional funding of
K27.39 million is require to complete the remaining balance of works.
The government only transferred the administration
and management of Lae roads rehabilitation and upgrading to DoW in August 2012
to ensure successful completion of ongoing works.
Stage 1 works commenced in 2009 with contracts given
to Dekenai Construction, East-West 1 Ltd, FTM Construction and Lae Engineering
Ltd.
“In line with the national government’s aspiration
to upgrade the Lae City roads to a standard urban city road status, K50 million
was allocated in 2010 supplementary budget,” the report says.
“By the virtue of the appropriation bill, the
funding was allocated to DOW, however, the projects were hijacked at the
central agencies and Central Supply and Tenders Board (CSTB).
“NME International (PNG) Ltd was engaged as state’s
representative to manage all aspects - design, procurement, project management
- of these projects.
“A detailed audit has been undertaken to establish
the project financial and physical status.
“The audit reveals that 12 contracts were procured
which equates to K104.3 million, including variations.
“The state erred from the beginning by awarding
contracts above the K50 million funding appropriation.
“Additional K28 million was appropriate in 2012 to
settle outstanding claims certified by NME as well as completing the
outstanding works under Stage 2.
“Additional funding of K27.39 million is require to
complete the remaining balance of works.
“Most of this outstanding is paid from K100million
appropriated for 2013.
The report highlighted that most of these projects
were procured under certificate of inexpediency (COI).
“There was no justification for the expedited
procurement for such important projects,” it said.
“Ample time should be given for proper planning and
technical design necessary to make informed investment decisions.
“Consequently, a lot of ambiguities and variations
have surfaced, thus DoW is doing its best to address and conclude these
projects.
“NME scoped for concrete pavement works, a highly
technical task; there was no proper design to guide contractors.
“Most contractors lacked experience in such projects
and were not familiar in executing it. Inefficiency of unskilled contractors in
concrete pavement and buildable design resulted in poor performance and slow
progress.
“Engineers’ estimates were unavailable to compare
and review the contractor’s prices.
“All contracts were awarded as per contractor’s
pricing.
“These prices were further inflated by variations
due to poor scoping and design.
“Department of Finance (DOF) paid over K30million in
advance to contractors to commence work.
“Some commenced as expected, however other did not
commence until October 2012.
“Due to misprocurement, some contracts have been
suspended awaiting further instruction from CSTB. “
