The Roads Contractor Company (RCC) must now fend for itself rather than relying on perenial government bailouts, transport minister Veikko Nekundi has said.

The outspoken minister was clear that the State-owned enterprise must become self-sustaining or it will face consequences.

Addressing senior management yesterday, Nekundi questioned why RCC continues to rely on government bailouts despite receiving more tenders than any other company in the country.

He demanded urgent transformation.

“You are the only company in Namibia, in the whole country, that has more tenders. Triple [or] even 10 times more than the private companies in the country,” Nekundi said.

He said private companies survive on one tender, while RCC struggles despite having many.

“They are sustaining themselves on one tender a year. One tender in two years. But you, with 20 tenders, cannot afford to sustain yourselves,” he said.

The minister said continued financial support from the state was no longer acceptable.

“There is just no reason [that] RCC must get bailed out and financial support from the State,” Nekundi told RCC management.

“In one or two months, I’ve given you more than five tenders alone.”

Nekundi said the problem lay either with systems or leadership.

“Something, somewhere, must be wrong. Either the system is wrong, or the people that are employed there are wrong. One of the two must be wrong,” he said.

He issued a blunt ultimatum to the company’s board and management.

“You either get serious, or the serious will get you. So, the choice is yours,” he repeatedly warned.

Response

In response, RCC CEO Dasius Nelumbu said the company has already put a clear sustainability strategy in place and is addressing the challenges raised by the minister.

“We have a strategy in place to make sure that we are self-sustaining,” said the CEO.

He acknowledged past capacity challenges, particularly with equipment.

“We have had capacity issues in terms of productive equipment. We have solved those issues,” he said.

Nelumbu said new machinery has been acquired and will be deployed to projects.

He added that technical capacity gaps have also been addressed.

“Where we do not really have capacity technically, we also have advertised already for a technical partner,” Nelumbu stated.

He continued “that the process has been concluded, and we have technical partners on board.”

The CEO said internal system challenges, including programming issues, had slowed progress but were now being resolved.

“We have had issues with the programming act, and we absolutely have solved a number of issues,” he said.

Nelumbu said RCC already has sufficient work to sustain itself.

“We have enough, actually more than enough, projects to sustain the company.”

He added that the focus was now on implementation and profitability.

“We just need to implement this sustainability strategy and ensure that we are profitable,” Nelumbu said. -ljason@nepc.com.na