Refurbishment of the old Letsholathebe Hospital in Maun, which should have been completed five years ago has been stalled due to protracted disputes with the contractor, North West District Council has been informed.
When updating the house during a recent special full council meeting in Maun, the project coordinator, Othusitse Bethia, revealed to the council that the main contractor, Net Builder Pty Ltd has since abandoned the project and seemingly has no intention of completing it.
“The main contractor has been encouraged to be present on site and complete the minor outstanding building works. However the contractor has since abandoned the site and shows no intention of completing the works hence we have recommended for termination of the contract,” Bethia told the council.
Allegedly, following many correspondences with the contractor and without much progress, the project coordinators wrote to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works to send a notice of contract termination to the said company and as of Tuesday this week, Bethia indicated that not much progress has been done in this regard. “The contractor has been recommended for termination since November 2022 and since then the notice to terminate has been with the Permanent Secretary’s office and the procurement oversight unit.”
The drafted termination letter noted that despite all extensions and assistance that government has afforded the contractor,” as of 14th October 2021, actual progress stood at 90% against programmed 100% and has not changed ever since.”
General progress on site, according to Bethia, has been way too slow to non-existent for a long time despite warnings to the contractor to correct this by the project team and consultant team.
Net Builders is said to be also unable to properly keep the site safe and secure at all times, resulting in loss of few available materials and vandalism of the already executed work by removing and stealing installed equipment and material.
“There have been acts of vandalism recently and mainly on air-conditioning outdoor units of about six units where copper pipes and isolator cables were stolen. The contractor was advised to report to the police and intensify security on site to avoid any further burglary.”
The remaining 10 percent of the works are said to include data networking, that is phones extensions, internet and nurse call system which- according to Bethia, the domestic subcontractors are facing financial challenges to complete.
When reached for comment, Net Builders’ director, Edward Totego, said his company has actually completed its works and that what remains is for the subcontractors to complete their part and the building will be ready for handover to government.
“It is government that employed the sub contractors who ran out of finances, but the government has refused to assist them with finances or in purchasing required materials. They need less than P1 million and the job will be done. It is not true that we abandoned the project. We still are responsible for providing security and it is taking a toll on us as well.”