By Njodzeka Danhatu
The execution of projects in the Southwest Region financed by the Government via the Public Investment Budget, PIB, stands at 7.5 percent against 17.24 percent last year.
The figures were made public Thursday, July 25, in Buea, during the first semester participatory and follow up committee meeting on the execution of PIB in the Region.
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The Southwest Regional Delegate of the Economy Planning and Regional Development, Godlove Buinda, blamed the low execution rate on the Anglophone Crisis.
“Some bidders are not very willing to go to some of the difficult areas to execute the projects,” he said.
Buinda also identified the late award of contracts by some Tenders’ Boards in the Region, complains of unpaid bills for contractors, as some of the challenges that have led to the low execution rate.
“They said most of their bills at the treasury have not been paid. They said without money, they cannot bid for new projects, while projects they have executed have not been paid,” he explained.
Such challenges have led to zero execution rate in some Divisions in the Region.
In Meme Division with four Council areas, no project has been executed according to the Delegate.
Meanwhile, five municipalities in the Region stand at 0-1 execution rate.
The representative of the Southwest Governor urged contractors and Mayors to redouble their efforts in 2019 for the projects to be realised.
To achieve this, Buinda said all hands must be on deck to ensure that projects are executed.
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However, some contractors, invited at the meeting blamed administrative bottlenecks in the award and payment of contracts by Government.
