Africa-Press – Namibia. THE government plans to fork out an additional N$87 million for the national oil-storage facility, which has already gobbled up more than N$6,5 billion in taxpayer funds in the past five years.
These details are contained in a report by the Central Procurement Board (CPB) which was made public in Windhoek yesterday. The report provides an overview on the status of state tenders, challenges faced, and progress made since last year.
One of the main contracts approved for direct procurement is the provision of services at the Ministry of Health and Social Services, which includes N$2,7 billion paid to institutions such as the Namibia Institute of Pathology (N$1,5 billion) and the Namibian Blood Transfusion Service (N$309 million).
Around N$863 million was paid to the Lutheran, Catholic and Anglican churches for medical services to be provided between 2021 and 2024. One of the standout tender extensions is for the fuel storage facility at Walvis Bay – a deal that has for years been mired in controversy, including allegations of corruption and negligence by senior government officials.
It was mainly pushed by prime minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila when she was the minister of finance. It appears the project will keep popping up. “Extension time and notification for possible additional cost for the national oil-storage facility at Walvis Bay,” CPB chairperson Patrick Swartz said in his presentation yesterday.
It’s not clear what the N$87 million is for. Swartz referred additional questions to his officials. The Namibian, three years ago reported that the government was set to splash another N$50 million on the national oil-storage facility at Walvis Bay after complaints emerged of it having substandard firefighting capacity.
The government has over the years been warned by experts that consumers could end up paying high prices for fuel to subsidise this project. Another key detail highlighted in the report is the lack of progress at two vocational training centres.
This includes the ongoing upgrading of the Okakarara Vocational Training Centre, which is 104% behind schedule. “Workers [were] not provided with personal protective equipment [such as] clothes, safety boots and masks, since they came to the project [over a year ago],” Swartz said.
The board said it has informed the contractors on this project that penalty clauses are being considered. The other project is the construction of the Nkurenkuru Vocational Training Centre in the Kavango East region.
The board also announced it has extended the contract of the company running the government medical aid, known as the Public Service Medical Aid Scheme (Psemas).
Around N$74 million has been set aside for this contract from 1 July 2021 to 1 March 2022. The Ministry of Finance has awarded the administration of Psemas to Methealth Namibia Administrators for five years from 1 April 2010 to 31 March 2015.
Methealth, which is owned by the MMI Holdings Group, has been administering the scheme since. The contract has been extended several times. The board also highlighted several successes in the past financial year, such as five contracts [15%] which exceeded expectations, while 11 tenders are on track with executions.
Around nine out of 33 contracts valued at N$2,7 billion are behind schedule. The latest report into Namibia’s procurement comes after years of continued secrecy on state procurement.
Swartz yesterday told The Namibian he is happy with the progress made so far, and vowed to improve the board’s transparency mechanisms. He said the board now has the capacity to provide detailed statistics.
“Now we also put all the board decisions on our website,” he said.
The board, however, did not explain the N$3,6 billion government schools food-supply tender that was rocked by controversy this year after claims that briefcase companies won contracts despite lacking experience.
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