Bidding beyond capacity, contractors fail to complete projects on time

Kathmandu, Nov. 5: 

The Federation of Contractors Association of Nepal (FCAN) said on Monday that construction of various development projects could not complete as the contractors bidded and implemented projects going beyond their capacity.

As some of the contractors are overloaded with construction works, the government should provide work as per their capacity, said FCAN.

At a time when the construction of several development projects such as roads, bridges and hydroelectricity projects has been delayed or remained incomplete, the contractors are becoming the target of the media and drawing public flak.

Speaking at a press conference organised to make public the 35-point decision of the FCAN’s 11^th Annual General Assembly, President Rabi Singh said that there was fault not only in the contractors but also in the government side.

“We have become the major target of criticism for the delay in completing development projects, but it was because of insufficient budget allocated to the projects, delay in the payment and lack of coordination among the government agencies,” he said.

He urged the government to create an environment where small contractors also could involve in the tender process.

According to Singh, the present provision of contractors’ classification is unscientific, so they should be categorised as per their annual business turn over.

However, he maintained that the ministers had assured the contractors that the government would begin the tender process only after allocating sufficient budget to the projects.

He said that the problem in the payment was due of lack of clarity in work, duty and rights of the local governments.

“We also want a business-friendly public procurement act,” added Singh.

The FCAN demanded inclusion of only the local contractors in the projects of up to Rs. 60 million in the respective local units. Similarly, it urged the government to make a same provision, from Rs. 60 million to Rs. 150 million, for the provincial level as well.

“Likewise, national projects ranging from Rs. 150 million to Rs. 1 billion should be open for competition only among the national-level contractors,” said General Secretary of the FCAN Roshan Dahal.

The FCAN also asked the government to extend the completion deadline of all construction projects across the countries up to 13 April 2019.

“The projects were delayed due to the devastating earthquake in 2015 and fuel shortage due to the border blockade. The Prime Minister has assured us to extend the deadline till mid-April next year,” said Dahal.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 6 November 2018.