By Albertina Nakale
WINDHOEK – Francis Sikumba, the contractor who clinched the tender to construct 279 houses under the mass housing project at Bukalo in Zambezi, which has been beset by delays, was given a deadline of January next year to prove himself – otherwise to get the boot.
The decision follows an impromptu meeting on Friday with Katima Mulilo Rural Constituency Councillor, Matengu Warden Simushi, and the National Housing Enterprise (NHE) management regarding the delay to complete the 279 houses worth over N$74 million. Bukalo falls under Katima Mulilo Rural Constituency.
New Era was reliably informed the main contractor – Caprivi Building Contractors headed by Sikumba the former NBC regional manager – entered into a partnership with Big Nyati which is a Zimbabwean sub-contracting company headed by one Morgan Sivanda.
It is alleged that although construction work kicked off in May, it was discovered that the Zimbabwean subcontractor and his workers entered the country without the requisite work permits.
The Katima Mulilo Rural Constituency Councillor Simushi confirmed the delay at the project on Friday.
“Since my office is situated at Bukalo near where they are constructing houses, I normally go and monitor the progress of the houses but to no avail. I was informed that the Zimbabwean company, which went into partnership with Caprivi Building Contractors, brought in Zimbabweans who never had work permits. In any given country there is no way you can go work without a work permit. It was supposed to be arranged at the initial stage. The fact remains, they are Zimbabweans and they were supposed to acquire work permits before they could start working,” Simushi elaborated.
Around September, the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration detected that the Zimbabweans including Sivanda had no work permits and they were all arrested and deported back to their country of origin. After their deportation, work at the site came to a standstill.
Currently, Simushi said, houses are only at window level although President Hifikepunye Pohamba wanted to hand over the houses to the beneficiaries by November/December as he did in other towns such as Oshakati but the President’s wishes could not be met because of the delay.
“I undertook a trip from Katima Mulilo to have an urgent meeting with NHE pertaining to the delayed construction in Bukalo. I met the NHE technical managers on Friday. They even called Sivanda in Harare in Zimbabwe and he indicated that if the Namibian government will not be in a position to give them work permits, he will not be able to finish the job,” said Simushi.
The project is now solely in the hands of Caprivi Building Contractors who have been a given a strict deadline of January 9 to prove they can do the work otherwise the tender will be terminated and the millions Sikumba expected to pocket could literally slip through his fingers.
“Caprivi Contractors has been given a chance to prove themselves. If they cannot adhere to the agreement then the tender will be terminated. Currently everything is static. We will not be able to finish the entire 279 houses but at least if they can finish 86 of them, it will make sense,” Simushi added.
Sikumba could not be reached for comment by the time of going to press.