Further delays in construction of EMPD precinct

Construction of the new EMPD Specialised Services section in Boksburg has suffered delays, apparently owing to the metro’s struggle to procure a main contractor for the project.

This situation raises new questions about the future of the facility as well as who will be held accountable for the delays.

ALSO READ: Metro looking for a contractor to resume work on R34-million EMPD project

This is after the original contractor left almost a year after starting construction works.

In August last year, the metro told the Advertiser that it was still looking for a contractor to resume work on the R34-million EMPD project, which would be comprised of the Community Liaison Unit, Public Order Policing (POP) unit, the K9-Unit, the VIP Unit and the SWAT/Intervention Unit.

When the Advertiser revisited the site on February 25, there was no contractor or construction work in sight. Instead the area has become an eyesore, with long grass, flooded sections and neglected building materials.

De Vos said he is concerned about the repercussions of the project delays.

“I can’t understand why the metro is having difficulties in overcoming all the supposed problems related to the delays in finding a new contractor to resume construction of the infrastructure.”

The councillor warned that construction costs are escalating every year. Each delay will see the city spending more than what was budgeted for the project, which amounts to fruitless and wasteful expenditure.

“The longer the delays, the greater the risk that the project will cost much more than what it should have been or even turns out to be a failure.

“During his previous delivery of the State of the City Address, the mayor (Mzwandile Masina) bragged about constructing a specialised services precinct in Boksburg, but all we have been hearing about the project since then is all these delays, dilly-dallying and shilly-shallying,” said de Vos.

In August last year the metro pointed out that the SWAT and POP structures were planned for in the 2020/21 and 2021/22 financial years respectively and were reliant upon the availability of a budget.

In April, 2019, the Advertiser reported that, according to a well-placed source, construction work on the project commenced almost two years ago, but the contractor abandoned the site after apparently failing to deliver as required.

At the time, R6-m had already been spent.

However, the metro denied some of the claims, saying the previous contractor did not abandon the site and delivered all that was required as per the terms of the contract.

According to the metro, the contractor was only appointed to perform the total earthworks and site establishment as a multi-year project wherein three buildings, namely K9, SWAT and POP, would be constructed.

The Advertiser last year asked the metro if the current estimated total cost was much higher than what it should have paid before the delays. The response was: “No. The cost is in line with normal consumer price index (CPI), which encompasses building cost increases.”

Below is a breakdown of how much the project is expected to cost taxpayers:

• Phase one: R6-m earthworks and site establishment
• Phase two: R8-m K9 building
• Phase three: SWAT structure projected to cost R10-m
• Phase four: POP structure projected to cost R10-m.

The Advertiser has requested the metro to provide an update on the progress of the multimillion-rand project with a report detailing what it has done so far.

A follow-up story will be published once the requested information has been received.