The Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Human Settlements has expressed confidence with the plan presented by the North West Human Settlement Department to unblock the blocked housing projects in the province.
This emerged during the committee’s three-day oversight visit in the province, focusing on the Dr Ruth Segomotsi Mompati, Dr Ngaka Modiri Molema, and Bojanala District Municipalities.
The aim of the visit is to assess the delivery of quality housing and the implementation of human settlements programmes as part of parliament’s constitutional mandate to exercise oversight over the executive.
Speaking on YOUFM Newshour, the committee chairperson Nocks Seabi said the provincial Human Settlement department has dedicated some funds to unblock the housing projects abandoned by the contractors.
“What we are mainly impressed about is that the department has committed itself to ensure that those blocked projects are completed in no time. We know the implications of these delays on beneficiaries who are in dire need of these incomplete houses. But we are encouraged by the plan presented by the department, and we are hopeful because some of these projects as I said earlier on are long standing,” said Seabi.
Seabi highlighted that the committee has held engagements with officials from both the national and provincial departments of Human Settlement, as well as the officials of the local municipalities they visited so far.
He said they discovered during these engagements that most of the blocked projects were abandoned at the foundation phase.
“The report we received has revealed that most contractors would lay foundations and after being paid they would leave and abandon the project. But the department has identified this as a problem and came up with a plan to pay a contractor once the houses are completed, and we hope with that intervention many of the contractors will continue with the project and will not abandon them incomplete,” explained Seabi.
The chairperson has also conceded that due to limited budgets available for the projects, they cannot afford to complete all of them at the same time.
“Because of budgetary constraints not all projects will be completed soon.But the department has advertised tenders for completion of those blocked projects, and we hope once companies have submitted, the department will run quickly to make sure that they appoint contractors to complete those projects and those that are remaining will be catered for in the next financial years,” Seabi remarked.
Meanwhile, the committee vowed to take strenuous action against contractors who abandoned the projects.
This as it resolved to compile a list of all the names of the contractors and submit it to the Department of Treasury to be blacklisted.
“We have also proposed that the blacklisting must also include the directors of these construction companies,” warned Seabi.
The committee is expected to proceed to Gauteng from Thursday to continue with its oversight visit.
