MPW, staff negligence cause mishaps; projects in limbo

KUWAIT CITY, Oct 4: The Avenues Bridge project, regarding which widespread controversy has risen following the accident that occurred at the beginning of this week, was not the only project that was crippled and delayed. Rather, it is just the tip of the iceberg and one among the many projects in a long list of delayed and stalled projects. The work periods as per their contracts have expired without being completed and handed over to the beneficiaries or owners. The reason is mainly the negligence of some employees and leaders of the Ministry of Public Works and their favoritism towards certain companies and contractors working for them. Although the list is longer than it can be enumerated, Arab Times Daily obtained documents related to two projects in particular.

They are still stagnant despite the expiry of their work periods and the urgent and intense need for them. The first project was the construction, completion, maintenance, and furnishing of the Directorate General of Criminal Evidences building. The contract period for the project completion ended on August 1, 2022, but the actual completion rate reached 57 percent.

The project engineer assigned pursuant to resolution No. 10/2022 affirmed that the matter does not end with just the delay in completion of the work on the building, but there are also structural defects and defective concrete poured in the columns. She said, “The actual start of work on the project was November 28, 2017. The contract was signed on July 19, 2017, and the start order was issued on October 15, 2017. Therefore, the contractual end of the project was assumed on October 13, 2020.”

Amended
The project engineer, who was assigned to the task on July 6, 2022, indicated that the amended contractual date for delivering the project is August 31, 2022, based on the due extensions granted to the contractor. The percentage of completion according to the monthly report submitted by the contractor has reached 50 percent due to reasons attributed to the contractor himself. In a letter she submitted regarding the project’s position, the engineer said, “It became clear to me that there are clear deficiencies in the ministry and very modest oversight for a number of reasons, including the absence of specialized technical staff with technical experience that qualifies them to follow up the project work and indicate the extent of the contractor’s commitment to the contract specifications, which are the constitution of work on projects.

Also, most of the components of the contract are specialized items, which are of a special nature that require qualified external expertise. At one stage the services of the project consultant were dispensed with. This in itself led to a clear deficiency in oversight of the contract. The project went beyond the original and additional contractual periods.” In her letter, the engineer recommended forming a higher technical, legal, and financial committee to review the status of the project and the possibility of the current implementing contractor continuing to complete the work and review all previous and subsequent appropriations (contractors and materials) to ensure their safety in order to preserve the project and its users and to preserve public money. She urged the ministry to send a letter to the implementing company and the project manager to highlight the presence of defective concrete in the cast columns in one of the areas of the building and to request that the defective work be quickly removed and replaced while reserving the ministry’s right to take a decision that it deems appropriate in this regard.

The engineer also stressed the need to provide a complete study containing the reasons for the occurrence of defective works, the method of removal while preserving the structural integrity of the building, the parts that will be removed, the method of reinforcement and re-casting, the measures that have been taken to prevent the recurrence of these defects and identity of the technical staff members responsible for this defect. Meanwhile, the delay in the work on the building and its failure to deliver it on time caused another problem that threatened a loss of about KD 11 million of the public money. It is the cost of furnishing materials and equipment using that amount, which the Ministry of Interior refused to receive because the building in which it was supposed to be placed had not been completed.

Inspection As a result, a joint meeting was held for the leaders of the Ministry of Public Works and the Ministry of Interior to reach a solution. During the meeting, officials of the Forensic Evidence Department showed flexibility. Based on the principle of cooperation, they informed the Ministry of Public Works that necessary work would be done to initially approve the devices on condition of passing inspection, provided that this is not considered as receipt of the devices as the receipt will take place later after the completion of the building and receiving it initially. As a result, the minister formed an investigation committee that completed its work but did not disclose its recommendations. Arab Times learned that the committee recommended referring the former engineer responsible for the project for investigation, as well as the leaders who headed it. The measures that the minister took regarding the recommendations are not known.

Later, the Government Performance Monitoring Agency sent a letter to the Minister of Public Works confirming that the contractual completion period for the project ended on August 31, 2022, but the actual completion rate was 57 percent as of December 2022; hence the delay rate was 42 percent. It noted the delay in supplying and installing laboratory tools and equipment, implementing electrical and mechanical works, and furnishing and finishing works. The agency requested that it be provided with the decision to form a fact-finding committee regarding the violations and deficiencies that marred the project and the measures taken to address the delay.

The long and troubled path in the Forensic Evidences building project was very similar to the path of the project to establish, complete, and maintain parking lots for the Institute of Judicial and Legal Studies. A technical committee was formed to unveil its work with the aim of initial delivery in August 2022. In November 2017, the assistant undersecretary for the Construction Projects Sector sent a letter to the undersecretary of the Ministry, in response to a letter from the latter requesting that the withdrawal of the project be postponed. The assistant undersecretary said there is evidence proving that the contract is marred by some violations that require determining their size and impact. He explained that the work team that was formed to study the project’s position discovered that what was actually implemented on the ground was two floors less than what was contractually required and no deductions were imposed on the contractor for this. The contractor also did not build the pedestrian bridge connecting the parking lots and the institute, for which no deductions were imposed on the contractor, and no change orders for the deductions were issued.

By Saud Al-Farhan
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times Staff