ADM looks to save toilet project

In a bid to complete its troubled multimillion-rand sanitation project, the Amathole district municipality’s council has agreed to extend the project’s deadline.

The initial deadline for the R631- million project, funded through a loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), was June this year.

A decision has been made to extend it by another nine months, effective from August.

It is the second time the controversial project has been extended.

In June, implementing agent Siyenza Group asked for the deadline to be moved to July. At the time, only 16391 of 66000 toilets (25%) were complete by April 24. Some 3711 more were built but still needed to be inspected and given clearance. This would have brought the completed total to 20102.

The Amathole district municipality (ADM) approved the extension to July.

Then, also in June, Siyenza was booted from the project. The ADM cancelled the contract days after a contract used as the basis to award Siyenza the contract was also scrapped.

The original contract with the Municipal Infrastructure Support Agency for a Northern Cape sanitation project was cancelled on June 5 after a probe by the Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Pravin Gordhan, rendering the ADM deal null and void.

The Northern Cape project was worth R114-million.

The termination of the projects follows a month-long Saturday Dispatch investigation in February that exposed major flaws in the contracts.

The contract was blamed by many close to it as the reason behind the municipality’s financial woes.Giving a progress report on the project in a council meeting last Friday, ADM mayor Nomasikizi Konza admitted challenges had impacted on the ability to meet the deadline.

A council document states that Konza “stressed that in order for the project to continue beyond June, National Treasury must accede that the project continues beyond the set frames”.

Addressing the meeting last week, Konza said the toilet project was 41% complete, with 27000 toilets built.

“We are now looking at ways of dealing with payments of subcontractors that were supposed to be paid by the Siyenza Group,” Konza said.

Drafting a way forward for completion of the project, the municipality identified several options:

• The ADM taking full control of the project;
• The project being done internally;
• Siyenza’s subcontractors to come under the control of the municipality;
• Management to ensure supply chain management policies be followed;
• The ADM to use four suppliers used by Siyenza.

ADM spokesman Siyabulela Makunga last week said the DBSA was assessing the work done so far.

“With the departure of Siyenza from the sanitation programme, works came to a halt as subcontractors contracted to Siyenza were apparently not paid,” Makunga said.

“A termination process is under way and DBSA is verifying the work completed to date before making available further funding for the programme.”

Makunga promised that unpaid contractors should soon be paid the money owed to them.

“In terms of contractors contracted to the ADM, payments of invoices submitted between April and June should be completed within a few days.

“Invoices submitted after June may take longer. Payment of invoices after July should be made within six months,” Makunga said.

Last weekend the Saturday Dispatch reported that many of the companies contracted for the project had not been paid and owners were crying foul, saying they were being chased by debtors. — siphem@dispatch.co.za