Architects, engineers demand timely payment
President of the Architects Association of Botswana (AAB), Moemedi Gabana has denounced reoccurring late payments to architects and engineers in Botswana from specific organisations that are crippling the architecture industry. Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of the AAB on Thursday, Gabana detailed that architects often have to battle payment delays lasting up to over two years.
The disrupted cash flow situation has forced the AAB to take the matter to the Accountant General’s (AG) office to express their concerns and the inability of their architects and engineers to perform their duties. “Cash flow is the nexus, the blood of any organisation.
Therefore, we have to stimulate a cash flow process for our members,” he said. “We approached the AG, this iW that there is a problem.” The meeting with the AG produced fruitful results as the AG was shocked at the lack of payment to architects and took a stance to look into means to ensure frequent offenders pay their dues.
“The unpaid invoices went as far back as a year to two years ago, but thankfully we were received well. What they promised us was that they would deal with the notorious offenders, because it’s not the government’s interest for people to not be paid on time,” he added.
The causes of the unpaid invoices against architects are relatively unknown to the AAB. However, the organisation plans to educate organisations on the effects of their late payments. “Sometimes people are too relaxed and not understanding the business of consultants, thinking all they do is draw. If you don’t pay them on time they suffer. We’re trying to educate our officers that they are the key to unlocking services to the economy.
If they don’t understand the business side of architecture, they won’t understand that our members need to pay rentals on time, pay for their children’s school fees on time, and they can pay to support their families in the rural areas,”
Gabana said. Additionally, he noted that companies often tender to individuals rather than architecture companies, which is further adding to the destitution of architects in the country that are not privy to these exclusive deals. The AAB noted the issue and dedicated itself to combating the situation ensuring that all architects are given equal opportunity to practise and earn a livable income. Poor cash flow has negatively affected the ABB’s ability to clamp down on injustices against local architects and led to a general sense of apathy in the organisation’s ability to perform as they would expect it to. Generating roughly P100,000 annually in subscription fees from its members both individual and corporate, the organisation has acknowledged that poor cash flow into the association is affecting its ability to perform. Various members attending the annual general meeting cited a lack of bookkeeping and management of member details that has affected their ability to pay their subscription fees. Members also expressed that the association could develop innovative methods to increase its cash flow beyond the basic subscription fees. Should Gabana’s ‘maximising the minimum’ philosophy be successfully applied to transforming the public works budget towards an economic stimulus package, the association expects to see increased subscriptions from its members and the strengthening of its ability to defend and advocate for its members.
At present, the association has 152 individual members and three corporate members and expects to explore growing its brand as a prestigious association for the benefit of architects across Botswana.