BOSTWANA GOVT. OVER SPENT ON COURT BUILDING EXTENSION

It has been revealed that Bostwana Government incurred cost overruns of over US$395k (P4 million) when it extended the Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court, the Auditor General’s report has revealed.

The contractor handling the project, Red East Construction, delivered the state-of-the-art Broadhurst Magistrate’s Court on time and within budget.

However, according to Auditor General (AG), Pulane Letebele, the Magistrate’s Court extension project, which officially opened in 2018, was a renovation at the tune of US$7m (P80,729,751) by the Chinese company against an initial budget of US$6.57m (P75,626,898), recording an additional US$395k (P4,554,333).

She noted that the extension comprised six courtrooms and corresponding magistrates’ chambers, regional court, juvenile court and ancillary offices for interpreters and security personnel scheduled for a period of 70 calendar weeks running from January 2016 to May 2017.

The report also stated that the 70-calendar weeks contract completion period was not achieved due to several requests for more time over a number of reasons.

Such request includes, changes in the scope of works purportedly to enhance the function of spaces and to improve the security of the facility. While other factors included work stoppages occasioned by heavy rains during the period from November 2016 to February 2017 and delay in the supply of BTC pipes, which were received in January 2017, instead of October 2016.

Qouting Letebele, “The matters of cost and time overruns have become a regular feature in the implementation of government projects, involving considerable sums of money.”

She further stated that apart from the rains, which were beyond the control of the parties, the other instances that required time extensions could have been better managed with diligent project planning.

Source: The Monitor

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