Tanzania’s registrar of the Contractors Registration Board (CRB) says some local contractors are presenting forged credentials to secure works in the country’s construction industry which leads to low quality works. Engineer Boniface Muhegi noted that the industry has been invaded by shoddy contractors whose performance is questionable.
Engineer Muhegi said presentation of forged academic and professional certificates, vehicle registration cards, bank guarantees and registration certificates has become an order of the day and that it is one of the problems the board is fighting hard to overcome.
Speaking shortly before the opening of the 2014 CRB Annual consultative meeting in Arusha, Eng. Muhegi insisted that such malpractices will seriously hamper the construction industry and that calls for immediate measures to tame them.
He further noted that lack of stable financial muscle for most of the local contractors has remained a problem for years and that efforts to organize fundraising campaigns targeting to get money for them have also encountered a number of hurdles.
According to Eng Muhegi, tough conditions to win tenders still limits chances for local contractors to undertake major works save for liquidity problems, adding that it is the reason giant foreign companies win many major works easily. He called on the government to consider waiving taxes for imported construction machines to enable local contractors afford importing them.
Eng Muhegi said despite the underlying challenges there are a number of remarkable achievements that have seen the number of registered contractors increased to 7,176 as at April this year from 6,284 in 2012/2013. Number of class A Local contractors has increased from 15 to 40 while the criteria of registering local contractors has been improved. Registration time has been decreased especially for the companies with joint venture arrangement whose registration now takes one day to complete.
According to Muhegi Tanzania has registered 110 joint venture companies adding that among these, 109 companies are in two to three joint ventures.
Tanzania’s construction sector continues to be a very exciting and developing sector in the country’s economy. The construction sector is currently experiencing a period of growth that has primarily been driven by the recent developments in roadwork, housing and mining. The growth rate of the construction sector increased to 11.9% in 2005/06 from 10.8% in 2004/05 and the contribution of construction activity to the overall GDP rose to 5.7% in 2005/06 from 5.4% in 2004/05.
CRB’s mandate includes registering local and foreign contractors working in the Tanzanian construction industry, regulating the activities and conduct of contractors, setting criteria for registration of contractors in different classes and review of these criteria from time to time, verification and ensuring that all works are undertaken by registered contractors, ensuring all construction works comply with the governing laws and regulation, reviewing performance of registered contractors from time to time, developing the skills and capacity of local contractors among others.
