CELEBRATING THE ZAMBIAN CONTRACTOR

By Dr FRANCIS NDILILA ZAMBIAN contractors need to be celebrated for creating our built environment even at times of adverse operating economic environment.

Zambian contractors have had the resilience to bear the brunt of non-recognition and non-payment for the services they provide and yet they have resolutely continued to pursue their vocation. Always hoping for a better tomorrow.

The house we live in, the of

the church we worship in are all three dimensional spaces created by our architects and built by our contractors.

Our built environment is a product of architectural design and construction. The contractors should be celebrated for creating the tangible three dimensional spaces that we live in.

hardly a thought given for the contractors who construct our buildings and shape the environment.

Zambian contractors although most criticised for situations created by others and leading performance are victims of prejudice mostly coming from fellow Zambians. They are the prover

The reality is that the "genuine" Zambian contractor is a very

in an environment which robes them of opportunities to perform and thrive.

As a nation we should celebrate our contractors and under- and an environment which will foster their growth and success. The success of the Zambian contractor invariably translates into a better built environment for all Zambians and a buoyancy in the economy. At the moment the Zambian contractors are doing the best against many odds. Who is the Zambian contractor? Contracting in Zambia, today can be compared to farming. In the past it was fashionable to believe that farming was the ac

ternoon of their lives.

Although farming is a complicated vocation requiring a lot

physical energy retiring people were made to draw the comfort that all was not lost by retirement because a better life was coming in farming!

The more than 5,000 registered contractors, particularly in the lower categories consist of people who are entering the construction industry as an alternative last resort where easy money can be made when one elsewhere.

Some of these contractors are products of patronage introduced into construction industry as a services rendered.

They are encouraged to hastily register a business name with PACRA and then introduced to the National Council for Construction for registration as contractors.

As soon as they are registered they obtain a contract to construct a road or a building with little or

Requirements of Performance and Advance Payment securities are waived to "assist" them.

They either realise that they have lots of money in terms of unsecured advance payment and nothing could happen to them if they abandoned the job or they stay on and attempt to do the - contractor.

There is, however, a Zambian contractor who is a trained engineer, tradesman or woman or has

passionately in the informal sector.

This is the contractor who

professional masher and tenders for projects without relying on "patronage." This is the Zambian contractor with least opportunity.

This contractor has to put up property as security for Advance Payment and Performance Bond but ends up sometimes losing the property because of negating on premium repayments because of non-payment by employer.

This is the contractor who is passionate about the construction vocation and "hangs in there" against all odds. This is the contractor we should be celebrating for greatness!

Sacrificial Lambs

The Zambian contractors are criticised by the public service ful in society.

are anxious to exonerate themselves of all wrong doings at the expense of the contractor. The contractor might not have been

months.

The critics of Zambian con- out why a particular contractor is not performing. The contractor is thought to be a magician who should perform against all odds.

Accusations and threats are issued for non-performance when the cause is non-payment due to the abrogation of the contract and the lawlessness of the employer. Unresearched news media The ordinary Zambian reads about the Zambian contractors in the press. He sees on the televi

to the story. Zambian news reporting is not great at giving a balanced footage of events. None of the contractors ac - of the story.

The Zambian contractors have been accused, tried and sentenced but has never been given a hearing or any opportunity to defend themselves. Professionals' responsibility That is by no means not to say that Zambian contractors do

Most of these will be contractors of patronage and party cadres discussed earlier. This type of contractor is given projects as appeasement for political "cadre" services rendered and are not

The mandatory submission of advance payment or performance bond and securities is waived. There is no recourse for the employer if the contractor absconds from the project or delivers shod

Legally unprotected Zambian contractor The Zambian contractor would perform according to expectations if the RULE OF LAW was observed before, during and after the contract. The three tenets of the construction contract must be held in order to have a successful contract. These are:

The contractor will build The client will pay

The consultant will supervise be spotted by the consultants either private or public during their periodic supervision of the con

The question is: Where were government or private consultants when the contractor was

manship? - the blame. Most of the time the contractor carries all the blame and the client and consultants exonerate themselves from any responsibility. Squalor in the midst of

economic growth Although the construction industry in Zambia has been undergoing unprecedented high annual growth in terms of volumes of same period has seen unprecedented numbers of registered contractors in Zambia falling into the vicious circle of poverty.

With such a phenomenal growth of the industry the Zambian contractors should have

cially.

Out of the presently 5,400 registered contractors in Zambia about 150 of the contractors are Chinese and have about 97 percent of the contract monetary value of all the contracting projects.

The rest 5,250 Zambian Contractors share a dismal 3 percent of the monetary value of the con

Zambia is Heaven on Earth for the Chinese contractors and Hell on Earth for the Zambian contractors

There is an abundance of jobs for the Chinese contractors in Zambia. It is heaven on earth for the Chinese Contractors! For the Zambian contractor it is hell on earth in their mother Zambia as they struggle to get the small poorly paying government jobs.

The jobs are irregular and come far and apart with no continuity to afford the Zambian contractor the very necessary forward planning which is so vital for corporate growth. 5,250

3 percent of the monetary value of all the contracts in their own country Zambia.

The small number of jobs that the colossal number of Zambian contractors have got to bid and compete for forces them to under-price their bids in order to stand a chance to get a job.

Irregular and delayed payments received by the Zambian contractor reduces the real value

increase in the cost of materials and other inputs into the contract.

In order to get the job the Zambian contractor will bid low

as low as 5 percent contrary to public perception that the con

In other instances the contractor might end up with a loss. Overhead payments for obtaining bid documents and paying securities for the project decrease the earning capacity of the contractor.

Long period of non-payment by the client tends to erode the monetary value of the eventual

The Chinese contractor can bid for the larger jobs because he is registered in the top category

bility in the bid document.

As most of the Chinese contractors are parastatal companies they are given a head start of about 15 percent by their government. - Delayed payments on the projects are always mitigated by the Chinese government coming to the aid of the contractor

The Chinese contractor can

the resource support from their government. In comparison the Zambia contractor is an orphan without opportunities. And yet despite all the odds he still soldiers on.

Zambian contractor in history There are real Zambian contractors capable of delivering construction projects on international standard and quality if given the opportunity.

The pre and post-independence era had more than six indigenous Zambian contractors registered in the top category of contracting capability.

The population then was about four million people and

engineers. And yet they served the mines and government and delivered most of the public buildings such as schools, health centres and other public buildings of the time.

The contractors were not there by accident but by a well-designed set of opportunities meant to guide them and to grow their businesses and capabilities.

Of patronage and cadres The reputation of the "real" contractor is spoiled by the bad practices of the cadre contractor of "patronage."

particular contractor category is "patronage" and the false perception that the political and government system owes them a living for allegedly putting governments in power.

This category of Zambian contractor has no genuine credentials and is largely responsible for the bad name generally attributed to the Zambian contractors.

Their registration as contractors is largely forced upon the National Council for Construction (NCC) for political expediency. TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK