House committee discusses road works

Delays at the Tal-Qroqq road works near the new hospital had come about because the contractor had not realised that the contract conditions required certain standards and he ended up importing material from Italy, roads director Lino Zammit said yesterday.

He was speaking during a debate in the Public Accounts Committee on a performance audit by the Auditor General on road construction and restoration contracts.

Mr Zammit said several factors caused road work delays, including the re-laying of underground services, land expropriation and unforeseen difficulties.

Former Transport Minister Censu Galea, now minister for Communications and Competitiveness, said he had been calling for the debate since February, when the report was published.

Committee chairman Charles Mangion said the debate had to be postponed repeatedly because of urgent business.

Wilfred Aquilina, manager at the auditor's office, gave a presentation of the highlights of the report, which had looked at the planning, tendering adjudication and management of contracts and works.

He said the auditor had considered 11 completed projects between 1998 and 2002 at a cost of Lm3.7 million.

The report had pointed out that expertise at the General Contracts Committee (GCC) was limited. Limited consideration used to be given to the past performance of contractors, bidders failed to submit all the information requested, and there had been a dominant supplier for a long time. It noted significant delays and cost variations in all 11 audited works.

The auditor had pointed out that technical reports needed to be improved and the Roads Directorate should work with industry to address weaknesses in the supply side.

The Department of Contracts needed to demand more technical evidence of planning and design prior to issuing tenders and the General Contracts Committee should return incomplete assessments to the adjudication boards.

Mr Aquilina applauded the issue of new technical specifications for contractors, the proposed new rates for the estimation of works and the tendering and adjudication process subject to EU rules.

The report made several recommendations including the holding of post contract evaluations and investigation of delays and cost variations.

Mr Galea said he was disappointed that the report had barely considered positive developments which had been taking place. References to recent developments actually referred to developments which had been there for a number of years.

One of the main fundamental issues ignored was the fact that for the past three years tenders over Lm250,000 were submitted in a three-envelope system to enable contractors to be judged not just on the proposed cost but also on their capabilities and training. More accountability had been introduced with the setting up of the Transport Authority.

Opposition infrastructure spokesman Charles Buhagiar said that although the three-envelope system was being painted as a solution to all problems, this was not the case.

Several road works, including those of Burmarrad, Salina and Tal-Qroqq, which had been given under this system had not been concluded in four years, although the target had been 12 months.

Dr Mangion asked to what the road work delays could be attributed.

Mr Zammit said there were several factors, including underground services, land expropriation and unforeseen difficulties.

Mr Galea said utility providers which have services running under the streets had objected to the building of service culverts on the side of the roads and were still insisting on not using them.