THE National Council for Construction (NCC) is designing a website as a pilot to host public funded construction projects in Zambia under the Construction Sector Transparency (CoST) Initiative.
NCC executive director Sylvester Mashamba said its only selected projects would be on the pilot website being funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) and the World Bank.
Speaking at a media workshop in Lusaka, Dr Mashamba said a lot of information concerning Government projects was still not made available for public scrutiny and that the website would avail the necessary information.
“The website would avail information pertaining to the project specifications, contractors, consultants and other stakeholders involved in the projects so that people would know the type of project and it specifics,” he said
Dr Mashamba said many times the public have had misconceptions on the type of works a contractor was to do while the community expected something else.
“We have had many situations where a contractor is meant to patch portholes but then the community expects a complete road resurface. Under the CoST initiative we will have such disparities resolved as information would be made available to the public,” he said.
And Dr Mashamba said most projects in Zambia had failed to follow the three principle areas of construction in relation to international best practices.
He said a construction project whether private or public must be started and completed on time, of agreed and acceptable quality and delivered within acceptable costs.
“If these areas of the projects are done then it’s a good project, but we do find a contractor has failed to meet one or two areas. That is why we want the contractors and consultants to improve in these areas through disclosures,” he said.
So this is news? Koma mu Zambia namo, having a website is national news! Individuals have websites, twitters, face books etc this is just the way things should be! Next, the NCC will be telling us that they have an email address!!!!!!!!
:- and then what?:-@
The question here is not just about putting up a website. It’s about making available to the public, on a website, some public funded construction projects in Zambia for public analysis/scrutiny! The title says it all. Why don’t you read first before you start criticizing?
Saint, you are letting me down. I normally enjoy your contribution because they are well thought out. Here the issue is providing information on selected government projects so that the public can know what to expect and how money is being spent