By NOEL IYOMBWA
GOVERNMENT has not sidelined local contractors but they are too many to be covered under its contracts, Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing Permanent Secretary Danny Mfune has said.
Mr Mfune said Government could not manage to offer contracts to all local contractors but was putting in place measures to ensure that more were empowered.
He said there were over 9, 000 registered contractors in the country who all look up to Government for business.
“Contrary to perceptions that Government is sidelining local contractors, the number of registered contractors is too high compared to the jobs given by government in a single year,” Mr Mfune explained.
Mr Mfune said Government was doing everything possible to empower the local contractors but the number of jobs per year could not match the number contractors who want to undertake the jobs.
“It is not about Government sidelining local contractors but the number of local contractors is very high, we have 9, 000 contractors registered with the National Council for Construction so the government cannot manage to give jobs to all the contractors.
“We are talking about 9, 000 contractors against approximately 200 jobs every year against I, is just a drop in the ocean,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mfune has described the performance of local contractors as fair.
Government, he said, was doing everything possible to build capacity for local contractors to ensure that they handle bigger projects in the future.
