Africa-Press – Lesotho. SQUABBLES within a joint-venture construction company have stalled work on the M380 million Mpilo Boulevard Intersections and Links Project. Relations among partners in the SCIG-SMCG-TIM Joint Venture soured in September last year, just three months after ex-Prime Minister Moeketsi Majoro launched the project amid much pomp and funfair.
The project includes the construction of new road links, vehicle flyover bridges, underpasses, exclusive pedestrian bridges and signalisation. The project was supposed to be completed in 31 months but it is now more than a year behind schedule because the partners are fighting over funds.
SCIG-SMCG-TIM Joint Venture is a consortium of two Chinese-owned companies and a Mosotho owned company. Toloane Matekane, the brother of Prime Minister Sam Matekane, owns Tim Plant Hire which is represents ‘TIM’ in the joint venture.
Tim Plant Hire brought its machinery and about 70 workers to the project while SCIG and SMCG contributed with engineering and other technical expertise.
Sources told thepost that SCIG and SMCG have refused to pay Tim Plant Hire M8 million for the initial work despite receiving a M14 million advance payment from the Maseru City Council. Tim Plant Hire responded by pulling its machinery and employees from the project.
“The other two Chinese partners are signatories to the joint bank accounts and Matekane is not,” said a source who knows about the dispute because he had been involved in the project from inception.
“He (Matekane) has been pestering them with letters but in vain. Even the project owner, the Maseru City Council, has received several letters of invitation to intervene but all has been in vain,” he said.
SCIG and SMCS cannot hire equipment and employees because that is Tim Plant Hire’s responsibility under the joint venture agreement. Matekane this week declined to comment on the fights with his partners but did not deny the standoff.
He referred thepost to the other partners whom he said had the authority to speak on behalf of the project. Jason Wang, an official from SCIG and SMCG, said they could not pay Tim Plant Hire “because his certificate has not been approved by the MCC”.
“The construction was suspended from September last year because there were some unresolved issues.
The claims have to be approved before we could make the invoices,” Wang said. Wang however said the dispute has been resolved and work has resumed. He also confirmed that the MCC paid the initial M14 million.
The MCC spokesperson, ’Makatleho Mosala, said construction was halted due to financial constraints. “But they have since resumed beginning with patchwork at Mpilo circle junction,” Mosala said.
Asked about the feud between the partners in the joint venture, Mosala said the MCC is not involved. She declined to comment on financial issues of the joint venture, saying “they are highly confidential”.
This is not the first time the Mpilo Boulevard Intersections and Links Project has been delayed. In 2019 it was revealed that former First Lady Maesaiah Thabane aggressively pushed to get the tender awarded to Unik Construction, another Chinese company.
Unik had launched a court battle after it lost the tender to SCIG-SMCG-TIM Joint Venture. The tender panel had disqualified Unik because its bid did not include some critical documents. The High Court initially ruled in Unik’s favour but the judgement was overturned after SCIG-SMCG-TIM Joint Venture and the MCC appealed.
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