Chinese eye completion of mass housing

Ten of the 48 bidders for a contract to complete unfinished Mass Housing Project houses at Keetmanshoop’s Tseiblaagte and Krönlein neighbourhoods are Chinese.
This, reported the Tender Bulletin of 5 – 11 August, is despite the Ministry of Works and Transport’s restriction to 100% Namibian-owned construction companies or joint ventures between 100% Namibian-owned entities with equity participation not less than 51% owned by previously disadvantaged Namibians.
The Tender Bulletin reported that some of the Chinese companies tendered on their own, “not bothering to team up with locals”; others tendered as joint ventures.
It further reported that the tender, which closed on 27 July, was issued with tender exemption and is the first public tender the Department of Works has advertised for the Mass Housing programme.
All previous Mass Housing tenders were handled by the National Housing Enterprise (NHE), which did not involve a public tendering process.
“Yet the public competitive bidding process for this tender is again not fully transparent since only the names of EOI [expression of interest] bidders were announced, as was the case with the old TIPEEG [Targeted Intervention Programme for Employment and Economic Growth] programme,” the Tender Bulletin reported.
It said since only successful contractors will be notified, there is little chance that there will be a public reading of prices of the shortlisted bids, adding: “We at least know who the bidders are but pricing and contract rewards remain hidden.”
It also questioned whether the value of contracts will ever be made public or whether “contracts will be awarded behind closed doors as is the case of the previous – shambolic – mass housing programme”.
Other special conditions for the tender stated that only contractors who provide documented proof of having successfully completed a government building project in Namibia with a minimum value of N$25 million could participate in the EOI. The Tender Bulletin previously reported that Namibia’s “fragile building industry is being sold down the river by its own government to China’s predator construction entities feeding off the lion’s share of big state projects” at the expense of Namibian companies and others from neighbouring states, some of which have long-standing ties with Namibia.
In a snap survey it found that the government’s “most favoured” Chinese companies are China Henan International, China State Construction, Zhong Mei Engineering, China Harbour Engineering Co, China Jiangxi International, China Jiangsu International, Jiangsu Zhentai, Qingdao Construction, China Civil Engineering Construction, New Era Investment and Synohydro Corporation.
Of these favoured ones, China Civil Engineering Construction, a Chinese state-owned entity, tendered in a joint venture with Oshilogo Construction for the completion of mass housing.
Quindao Construction tendered in a joint venture with Mediva Construction, and Jiangsu Zhentai formed a joint venture with Demi Investment.
New Era Investment partnered with Zillion Investment Holdings and China State Construction Engineering went with Inno Investment.

CATHERINE SASMAN