Mbarawa condemns incompetent contractors in water projects

KATARE MBASHIRU

WATER and Irrigation Minister, Makame Mbarawa yesterday condemned contractors delaying water projects, revealing that some officials in the ministry were also involved in the clandestine. He said in just two weeks that he has been in office, he has observed that some officials who were bestowed

with powers to supervise contractors have “failed the nation.”

“If you have for example a one-year contract with my ministry and you end up spending five years in execution stage with no proper reasons, there is no way you will be tolerated,’’ he said. Professor Mbarawa spat fire yesterday, just two weeks after he swapped offices with Engineer Isack Kamwele in a min cabinet reshuffle by President John Magufuli.

Eng Kamwele, the current Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, was transferred from the water ministry to replace Prof Mbarawa. Prof Mbarawa said two weeks in his new office, he has inspected four major projects in Dar es Salaam, Coast, Morogoro and Kigoma regions, realising that the projects had stalled for a long time although funds for implementation had already been disbursed.

“It also came to my attention that some officials responsible for awarding tenders to contractors were not conducting proper due diligence because of their self-interests,’’ he fumed, adding that some contractors may be technically good but financially weak.

The minister was speaking at a twoday dialogue forum with the private sector with the aim of cementing cooperation between the government and private sector to improve the water sector. Prof Mbarawa vowed that during his office tenure, there will be no room for contractors being awarded tendersafter secretly sneaking into the corridors of the ministry.

“The message I want to deliver here is that there will be no shortcut, we have to change and those who are not ready should prepare to quit and the doors will always be open,’’ he insisted.

Speaking for the Tanzania Private Sectors Foundation, Mr Louis Akalo called for openness on all water project contracts, urging the government to remove some bottlenecks during the tendering process. “For Public Private Partnership (PPP) to work well there should be equally proper classification of PPP projects— mega, small and downstream projects,’’ he added.

The Head of Office in the Department for International Development (DFID) Bethy Arthy said the private sector had a key role to play in tackling the challenges facing water and sanitation, adding that the UK government is equally happy to work with both the government and private sector.

“The private sector needs to deliver timely to ensure value for money and the quality of service,’’ she advised.