Disagreement between a contractor and the Independent Development Trust (IDT) has left two ditches stretching across the road in Koraalboom Avenue in West Acres for almost two years now.
The project was initiated by the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure through IDT to build a secondary access road to the Mpumalanga High Court. To execute the project, IDT appointed a subcontractor, Thenjwa Engineering and Projects (TEP) in 2019, and some water pipes and cables near the Koraalboom traffic circle had to be dug up.
The director of TEP, Mpumelelo Ngwenya, said they were instructed to stop working on the projects because of a misunderstanding between his company and the engineer of the project manager.
“We had issues with the quantity surveyor engineer, and they instructed us to stop working on Koraalboom Avenue, which resulted in some of our work not being approved for payment. As for the ditches on that street, we are not responsible for them, because when we started with the construction, they were already there,” he said.
According to the documents in Lowvelder’s possession, which were addressed to the constructor, the construction had to be ceased. “We are very worried about this development and request that you cease proceeding with work that has not met the minimum quality standards and approved by the engineer. Such work will not be approved for payment until remedial measures are undertaken. Furthermore, such conduct may cause circumstances that may lead to the termination of the contract,” read the documents.
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The IDT’s spokesperson, Phasha Mokgolane, dismissed the allegations that they had stopped the contractor and that the ditches have been there for two years, saying that they are in the process of appointing a subcontractor to assist the main contractor to complete the project.
“The IDT has not terminated the services of the main contractor for the access road. The project is in its final stages of completion. The process of getting others
to assist the contractor commenced last month, and the recommendations were only presented to the project team on February 25.
“The project was handed over to TEP on November 31, 2019. They only started working on the road in question around early 2021, yet the project is 24 months old, including four months of downtime due to Covid-19 lockdown regulations, which delayed the closing of the trenches,” he said.
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Mokgolane said the principal agent of the project is currently adjudicating what has been submitted. Once that process has been completed, which is expected before the end of March, the new subcontractor will immediately commence with work. The estimated time to complete the outstanding work is three to four weeks from appointment.
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