By Dr Lubinda Haabazoka
For a country to develop, it is very important that the leadership is open to different views, especially from circles they consider not to be closer to them.
One other aspect of leadership is not to come in with a preconceived idea because it becomes very difficult to adapt or change when circumstances call for such.
I would like to discuss two things:
- The recently advertised Ndola dual carriageway
- Public infrastructure procurement projects
Now that the post-election dust is settling I would like to call upon all foot soldiers, keyboard warriors, party supporters to go back to the barracks of life so that the country can have sober discussions and develop in unity because after all, Zambia is what unites us.
About the PPP Ndola Lusaka Dual Carriageway
There was heavy backlash that the PPP was prized at $1.2bn and that the project stinks corruption. Criticism came in that the private party proposed to build hotels and other amenities and that to a lot of people smell like corruption. In my opinion, the whole issue has got to do with the understanding of the word PPP and how these are tendered. A PPP is a type of off balance sheet funding where government uses the private party to fund build operate and then transfer back to government a fully functioning facility. The aim of a PPP is to use private money to do a project that is handed over to government after a certain period of time. During the concession period, the private party runs the facility to recover the money they have invested in, make some profit and then return to government a fully functional facility.
When tendering a PPP, governments chose the proposal with the most features. Let’s take for example the Ndola Lusaka dual carriageway. Government gives the following terms: build a road, charge toll fees, recover your money, then give the road back to us. Government says all this should be done in day 20 years.
So in that tender you have 2 companies: one says they will build the dual carriageway and toll gates, filling stations, hotels, shops, truck stations etc for $1.2bn. This party says that they will recover their money from tolls, hotels, truck stations, filling stations and other features. Then a second company bids for $600 and says all they will do is a road and they will get their money from toll fees.
The question is which company do you pick?
Answer: You pick company A with a $1.2bn because both companies will own the project for 20 years but one will only transfer to you only the road while the other one has pledged to build other features like hotels which you shall inherit. In a PPP, you chose a project with the most features. A project with most features is usually more expensive but because of more features, the private party is more likely to get back their money within the concession period.
Mind your government doesn’t spend even 1 ngwee so where is the corruption??
About public infrastructure project procurement
I have heard on TV that a lot of Zambians were given road contracts, paid advance payment and they ran away. This is where technocrats are supposed to be brave and advise the appointing authority correctly. No down payment is given to a company without that company putting in a down payment guarantee. What happens is that against the downpayment, the contractor get more like insurance (in layman’s language). If the contractor doesn’t begin works after after being paid advance payment, the only thing government does is to go and cash in that guarantee to recoup their money. So in all government projects, government can’t lose money.
I just thought of adding my views to these two issues.
My fellow technocrats let’s advice accordingly for the betterment of our country
Good boy
POINTLESS TOPIC
Wise and timely advice for the evil upnd regime. My brother habazooka our families need to meet again for our usual dinner. Your wlfe makes some tasty east European cuisines.
This man does not understand how construction procurement and tendering works clearly he studied law and is very biased PF sympathiser …if he was honest and had a clear understanding he was take neither of them A or B. Imagine what this company will do in that 20 years regarding toll gates of a strategic highway that shouldnt have toll gates in the first place. PPP is not the way forward for this contract, this should have been a straight forward turnkey contract or Design and Build…the only problem with these is PF didnt have any money to fund them. UPND should have cancelled it all together and done a new feasibility study of construction project.
And this man has a PhD and once headed. Business school and an economic association.
Who wants a hotel after 20 years… my foot
After $1.2 billion and 20 years……..
Are you handing over new infrastructure or infrastructure near the end of use ….????
…Add features just so you can have more features… I am joining the party.
…For an additional $1.2 Billion I will add an elevated road above each existing lane to double the number going in each direction, and a helipad every 10km.
Twice the number of toll booths = twice the fees collected.
My feature loaded $2.4 Billion bid >> $1.2 Billion >> 600 Million. Winning bid for sure.
TheEngineer – This man is absolutely cluesless he thinks he is buying fish at Soweto market …he doesnt even understand that a hotel along the Ndola – Lusaka should not even be a 5 star or 3 star hotel costing more than $5 million as these are just stop over hotels…$600 million for those services is just over inflated by 400%.
if I were to use that amount of money to build a highway with those facilities I would embed solar panelsin that road to feed into the national grid and charge ZESCO…that’s a revenue.
Corruption is in the tender process.
The concepts of a PPP and BOOT are wholly different, how Lubinda belabors to mix them in this piece to try to justify a stinking corrupt deal just shows how intellectually gullible this fool really is. Him and Emmanuel Mwamba are nincompoops!!
Your advice to the UPND government, Dr. Haabazoka, is very timely. The UPND government and their choir of cheerleaders, praise-singers, sycophants and soothsayers have a lot to learn by listening to those with different views from theirs. But then they seem to be what Bob Marley sang about in his song “stiff-necked fools”. They are haughty and arrogant, ready to insult anyone with a different view. If they continue to behave the way they are doing now, continue to be vain with their praise-singing thinking they are cool according to the Marlian script, they may just be left behind. They may continue with their praise singing without knowing when Zambians would have moved on far ahead of them.
Whether it’s Edgar China Lungu’s thieving PF, or Bally-white-glove’s musungu UPND: NOTHING is happening on the dual carriage way! The Chinese were ready to start but even THEY have given up. INDECISIVENESS is what is killing this country?
And don’t tell me that Zambians aren’t lazy: THEY ARE! Especially newly elected politicians! Six months in power, and all we get is EMPTY PROMISES!
If I would single handedly, with my bare hands would have started with the dual carriage way from the moment that Edgar China Lungu started talking about it – the project would be halfway by now! We’re 10% on the New Dawn government’s term, and not even 1% of their promises have even started!
I truly hated, and still hate, Edgar China Lungu’s thieving corrupt incompetent government – but Bally-white-glove’s Musungu government may not be corrupt, but darn it is twice as indecisive and unproductive!