Law on public works contracts favours foreign companies

Maputo, 26 Jul (AIM) – The Mozambican Association of Building Contractors claims that the Regulation on Public Works Contracts favours foreign companies, since the national contractors are submitted to prior inspection in the Administrative Tribunal while competitors from abroad are exempt from the burden of fees for submitting their legal documents to the same body.

According to the head of the Association, Bento Machaila, who was speaking to reporters on Thursday, in Maputo, the regulation, which was approved last December, has a problem regarding the prior review of contracts by the Administrative Tribunal when it comes to bidders from abroad.

“This legislation gives foreign bidders a huge advantage, since they are exempt from the burden of fees for submitting legal documents to the Administrative Tribunal”, he said.

This is not the first time that this association claims to be disadvantaged in favor of foreign companies. Last February, it accused the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in the northern Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado, of “systematically disadvantaging local contractors in favor of foreign companies” in the use of funds made available for the rehabilitation of public infrastructures destroyed by cyclones in 2019.

According to Machaila, it is not clear in the regulation what procedures the contractor must follow if he wants to confirm the veracity of the legal and financial content of his company, which opens space for foreign, unqualified companies to be hired by the state.

(AIM)

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