World News | Ugandan taxpayers to pay extra $3.5m after Chinese firm fails to deliver work: report

Kampala [Uganda]Feb. 27 (ANI): The Monitor reports that taxpayers will pay an extra $3.5 million as part of an expansion of Entebbe Airport after a Chinese company failed to deliver the work.

In a confidential report, Monitor cited investigators as saying the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority (UCAA) had not contested the company or forced it to carry out the work “at no additional cost” under the contract.

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Instead, the UCAA contracted another company to do the work at an additional cost to taxpayers, it said.

Investigators highlighted in their report that the contract provided for the scope of fuel hydrants in the new apron expansion, which will be completed by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) at a cost of $3.5 million. However, according to news reports, the scope has been transferred to another contractor, TRISTAR.

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These funds are now being reallocated to the renovation of the cargo center, which, according to the contract, should be done by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) at no additional cost. The project is part of a $200 million loan the government received from the Export-Import Bank of China to upgrade and expand Entebbe International Airport, Monitor reported.

The five-year project by CCCC began in 2015 and is expected to be completed by May 2021. Through the Chinese contractor, the Civil Aviation Authority of Uganda will provide and upgrade infrastructure and modern system facilities, provide easy utilities for passengers, and attract revenue for Entebbe International Airport, according to news reports.

Investigators in the report concluded that “the government stands to suffer significant losses from substandard work delivered by contractors,” according to news reports.

Investigators said the project was rejected by Entebbe Airport’s cargo operators (DAS Handling Limited and the National Aviation Service (NAS), formerly known as ENHAS).

Airport authorities have asked the two entities to transfer operations to the new facility. However, during the inspection, they found substandard work that could not support their operations, according to the Monitor report. The report noted that cold storage rooms for handling fresh produce were inadequate and not located in accordance with standards and regulations.

Investigators say these were omissions during the design and construction of the building.A source with knowledge of the report told the Sunday Monitor that UCCA officials are fiddling with numbers to protect what they say is CCCC’s incompetence

“The UCAA team will argue that the contract amount has not changed, but note that the scope has changed and the work that should have been done for the fuel hydrant at Apron 1 has been removed from CCCC and given to TRISTAR,” the Monitor quoted an unnamed source. said the source, who wished to remain anonymous.

The source added, “The biggest issue is that the person in charge is the director, the project manager, who is also the chairman of the contracts committee. This change and the decision taken should be taken into account.”

The report states that it is the contractor’s responsibility to provide a fit-for-purpose design. The contractor should be responsible for the loss. Furthermore, the Ugandan government should not suffer.

According to the Monitor, the report stated that, “in any case”, the report further stated that “according to the FIDIC design and build contract, clause 5.8 design error, the contractor is responsible for providing a fit-for-purpose design.”

It further stated, “Therefore, the contractor should be responsible for this, and the government should not bear this loss. It may have colluded with relevant persons to benefit from such protection by the contractor.”

Earlier this month, top UCAA officials were removed from the House National Economic Committee for failing to provide proper accountability for the loans.

Under its director general, Fred Bamwesigye, the UCAA was unable to explain to MPs how much money it spent on different infrastructure and works with the help of loans, according to the Monitor report.

Additionally, according to news reports, UCAA is reported to have completed 96.4 percent of its new cargo building. However, they were unable to detail exactly what was accomplished and how much was spent. Commission vice-chairman Robert Megard has questioned the UCAA’s competence for failing to provide proper accountability.

“You get this loan because everyone thinks you’re fit to handle it, and we congressmen can’t tell you the nature of the report, put it here and there,” the Monitor reported. Migadde stressed that authorities must provide financial and physical representations of the loans, including pictorial evidence. ” (ANI)

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from a Syndicated News feed, the content body may not have been modified or edited by LatestLY staff)