Lutombi scoffs at Chinese tender brouhaha
• Namibians up in arms over locals’ exclusion
The Roads Authority has broken its silence on why all seven companies in contention for the Usakos-Karibib road upgrade tender are Chinese.
The Roads Authority (RA) says it did not receive a significant amount of bids from Namibian companies for the upgrade of the Usakos-Karibib road, in which seven Chinese construction firms have been shortlisted.
Instead, it said only three Namibian companies showed interest in the bidding process, which is being financed by Germany's main development bank, KfW.
RA CEO Conrad Lutombi said since KfW is funding the upgrade of the road, it was the bank that set the requirements for companies participating in the project.
“What happened is we ran a pre-qualification tender and it was in terms of KfW’s rules. It was open to international companies and not only Namibian companies. In total, 17 companies tendered and, out of this, there were only three Namibian companies tendered - in joint ventures,” Lutombi said.
“When dealing with foreign finances, they have their own procurement rules and then bids run internationally,” he added.
Locals not showing up
According to Lutombi, one local company submitted a joint bid with a South African company, while the other two submitted joint bids with Chinese outfits.
“No Namibian company tendered alone,” he said.
The seven shortlisted companies will now progress to the next stage of the bidding process where they will have to prove capability to carry out the project, he explained.
Namibian companies will still benefit from the project as they will be afforded 25% of the value of the project to complete, Lutombi said.
“For the seven companies that qualified, it will be a mandatory requirement that four companies will participate with whomever wins this bid. Out of the total, 25% of the project’s cost is for Namibian contractors.
“The winning bidder will get the bid on the basis that four Namibian contractors are involved,” he added.
Namibian companies who will participate will solely be responsible for the construction of bridges, culverts, paving and surfacing, the RA boss explained.
The seven shortlisted companies are China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, China Jiangxi International, China Railway Seventh, UNIK Construction, Zhongmei Engineering, China Henan International Corporation and Shandong Luqiao Group.
Shameful
Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) secretary-general Justina Jonas said it was shameful that local companies were not selected.
“We don’t get surprised any more. As a union, we have hammered on the issue of localisation. We are fighting but nobody is listening. From the top to the bottom, there is no way you are pre-qualifying foreign companies while there are Namibian companies. Namibian companies built better roads before the Chinese came,” she said.
“They are selling out Namibians, selling our souls to foreigners. Shame on to everybody!” she fumed.
According to Jonas, it was odd that a Namibian company was selected in the past to construct a longer stretch of road, referring to Okahandja-Karibib, but now Namibian companies were not up to the task to upgrade the shorter Karibib-Usakos road.
She also challenged construction firms to speak out, saying the union had spoken at length on the issue.
Instead, it said only three Namibian companies showed interest in the bidding process, which is being financed by Germany's main development bank, KfW.
RA CEO Conrad Lutombi said since KfW is funding the upgrade of the road, it was the bank that set the requirements for companies participating in the project.
“What happened is we ran a pre-qualification tender and it was in terms of KfW’s rules. It was open to international companies and not only Namibian companies. In total, 17 companies tendered and, out of this, there were only three Namibian companies tendered - in joint ventures,” Lutombi said.
“When dealing with foreign finances, they have their own procurement rules and then bids run internationally,” he added.
Locals not showing up
According to Lutombi, one local company submitted a joint bid with a South African company, while the other two submitted joint bids with Chinese outfits.
“No Namibian company tendered alone,” he said.
The seven shortlisted companies will now progress to the next stage of the bidding process where they will have to prove capability to carry out the project, he explained.
Namibian companies will still benefit from the project as they will be afforded 25% of the value of the project to complete, Lutombi said.
“For the seven companies that qualified, it will be a mandatory requirement that four companies will participate with whomever wins this bid. Out of the total, 25% of the project’s cost is for Namibian contractors.
“The winning bidder will get the bid on the basis that four Namibian contractors are involved,” he added.
Namibian companies who will participate will solely be responsible for the construction of bridges, culverts, paving and surfacing, the RA boss explained.
The seven shortlisted companies are China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, China Jiangxi International, China Railway Seventh, UNIK Construction, Zhongmei Engineering, China Henan International Corporation and Shandong Luqiao Group.
Shameful
Metal and Allied Namibian Workers Union (Manwu) secretary-general Justina Jonas said it was shameful that local companies were not selected.
“We don’t get surprised any more. As a union, we have hammered on the issue of localisation. We are fighting but nobody is listening. From the top to the bottom, there is no way you are pre-qualifying foreign companies while there are Namibian companies. Namibian companies built better roads before the Chinese came,” she said.
“They are selling out Namibians, selling our souls to foreigners. Shame on to everybody!” she fumed.
According to Jonas, it was odd that a Namibian company was selected in the past to construct a longer stretch of road, referring to Okahandja-Karibib, but now Namibian companies were not up to the task to upgrade the shorter Karibib-Usakos road.
She also challenged construction firms to speak out, saying the union had spoken at length on the issue.
Comments
Namibian Sun
No comments have been left on this article