RIYADH – The Control and Investigation Board (CIB) has blamed poor technical and administrative expertise of government agencies and the inefficiency of project management personnel for faltering government projects in different parts of the country.

The CIB summed up its findings in its annual report submitted to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah.

The report said local contractors also suffer from similar deficiencies. “Despite the failure of contractors to execute the projects on time, the same contractors were awarded new contracts for the only reason that they were the lowest bidders,” the report said.

It said the main reason for such errors was that the government agencies do not maintain databases indicating the technical and financial potentials of contractors and their compliance with the contractual obligations, especially finishing the projects on schedule.

The CIB in its report, published by Al-Watan newspaper, identified 23 causes for undue delays in executing various government projects.

The report criticized the staff in charge of analyzing and awarding contracts for wasting too much time and blamed it on their inefficiency and lack of experience. This also affected their determination to slap penalties against contractors who fail to abide by the conditions of the contract, it added.

The report suggested that concerned government agencies could seek the expertise of reputable foreign companies with huge potentials to execute mega projects such as sewage networks, roads, electricity installations, school and university campuses and hospitals.

It also stressed the importance of encouraging small construction companies to merge into mega companies to upgrade their efficiency and resources.
The report emphasized the importance of creating contacts between the representatives of various government agencies and the Ministry of Finance to avoid awarding a number of projects to the same contractor without verifying its technical and financial competency.

The CIB asked the Ministry of Labor to come up with a package of incentives for contractors, such as facilitating the import of labor in accordance with the value and nature of the projects.
It also stressed the importance of government agencies supporting the official supervisory bodies with necessary technical personnel who are specialized in overseeing projects.

The CIB also took note of a steady increase in the prices of building materials, some of them by more than 60 percent, a factor that forced contractors to stop work and approach the Ministry of Finance seeking to review the terms of the contracts and extend their period of implementation.

The report also pointed out difficulties faced by contractors in getting water and electricity connections to work sites and said this had also led to undue delays implementing certain projects. — SG