Some Asian Development Bank (ADB)-funded roads develop potholes within three months because “ADB told us to give it to the cheapest company,” says Attorney-General and Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
During debate on the review of the Local Government Ministry’s Annual Reports for 2015-2018 in Parliament on Wednesday, he said Government had told ADB they would no longer follow their tender process.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said giving road projects to the right tenderer was not an easy issue as “there is a weighing of these issues”.
“Some companies may be very cheap, after they have completed the work, there is potholes within three months,” he said.
“But ADB told us to give it to the cheapest company, so we are stuck.”
He said the Government had told ADB they would no longer follow their tender process because of the unsatisfactory outcomes delivered by cheap companies.
“As far as the quality of the construction is concerned, as far as the longevity of the project is concerned, because you have some companies, they may be very cheap but there may be a lot of variations.”
The A-G said quality needed to be the focus and not the cheapest tender.
- The Fiji Times has reached out to the ADB for a response to the statement made by the A-G.
