WINDHOEK – One of the main topics scheduled to be discussed at the Construction Industries Federation (CIF) Construction Conference & AGM on 14 and 15 November will be the establishment of a Namibian Construction Council, which is in line with the government’s commitment to have the council promulgated before the end of the 2019/2020 financial year.
For many years the CIF has been lobbying to have the industry better regulated and is very hopeful that with a continued focus this can be achieved.
Despite a busy schedule in the run-up to the elections, Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, Sankwasa James Sankwasa, had expressed his support and commitment and agreed to address CIF members and stakeholders of the industry on the necessity of establishing a council for the sector.
Representatives from the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) in South Africa, as well as from the Zimbabwe Building Contractors Association, will share their experiences from their countries, in particular with regard to the regulation of their respective industries. Bärbel Kirchner says: “It is absolutely vital that our industry will get a council. Businesses in our sector need to be registered to ensure that only those that are registered can tender for business – both in the public and private sector. This will ensure optimal quality in our sector and at the same time it will also avoid the middleman phenomena in our industry.”
“Even though the CIF currently registers businesses in our sector, membership of the CIF is on a voluntary basis. Members of the CIF are guided by a code of conduct. However, the CIF does not have the legal powers to monitor and police. It is therefore important that we up the game for the industry and ensure that any contractor operating in Namibia is registered and has the necessary capacity,” Kirchner added.
In addition, the conference will also address the need for creating preferences for Namibian-owned contractors and businesses. In the current economic environment the CIF says it feels strongly about the need to support local contractors who find it difficult to compete fairly with foreign contractors.
This is in particular with regard to availability of finance and the uneven playing field between local and foreign contractors in terms of accessibility to finance.