Presidente da Federação Moçambicana de Empreiteiros, Bento Machaíla (segundo da direita para a esquerda)
Maputo, 18 Jan (AIM) – The Mozambican Federation of Building Contractors (FME) intends to hold accountable officials involved in irregular contracting schemes for the rehabilitation and construction of roads as part of the Urban Mobility Project in the southern municipality of Matola.
According to FME chairman, Bento Machaíla, who was speaking to reporters on Wednesday, in Maputo, in order to hold the officials accountable, the Federation will call for intervention from the Ministry of Transport and the World Bank.
“FME will be asking these two institutions to hold their officials accountable, as well as providing information on the steps that will be taken to prevent situations of this kind from happening again in future contracting processes”, Machaíla said.
FME will also ask the Licensing Committee for Building Contractors and Consultants at the Ministry of Public Works to open disciplinary proceedings against the Chinese company, China Jiangsu International Technology, for serious and repeated violation of its duties as a contractor.
“FME will report this company to the State Procurement Functional Unit (UFSA) at the Ministry of Economy and Finance, with a view to getting this contractor banned from working with the state” , he added.
According to Machaíla, the measure comes after the “FME learnt that the Central Office for the Fight against Corruption (GCCC) had ordered the suspension of the award of the road construction works in the municipality of Matola under the Transport Ministry and financed by the World Bank to the value of 250 million dollars, in a process in which part of the work was awarded to the Chinese company.”
“There were allegedly indications of violation of public procurement rules and interference by a senior official in the decision taken”, he said.
The FME, according to Machaíla, considers it an illegal act when a competitor, during the tender process, submits a financial proposal with a lower budget in the ranking, in order to later negotiate addenda to the contract during the execution of the work.
Machaíla also said that the FME has questioned the actions of the Procurement Management and Execution Units (UGEAs) set up in state institutions, which flagrantly make decisions in favour of companies that do not meet the eligibility requirements in public works contracting, to the detriment of others.
He also congratulated the GCCC for ordering the suspension of the process, while encouraging this institution to work impartially to guarantee transparency and equal circumstances for bidders, both national and foreign, in public works contracting in Mozambique.
(AIM)
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