The National Construction Industry Council (NCIC), has dared local construction industry players to take advantage of the conducive climate that Government is creating for them to fully participate in the development of the country. NCIC CEO, Eng. Gerald Thomson Khonje challenged the players at Capital Hotel in Lilongwe on Wednesday the 4th of May at a workshop organized for contractors and consultants.
The workshop which was the last in a series of three workshops, was aimed at building the capacity of local players in the procurement process and technical evaluations of tenders. The workshops which started with Blantyre on the 24th of April, followed by Mzuzu on the 29th of April 2022 were heavily patronized by contractors and consultants.
In the three workshops, NCIC brought along the country’s Public Procurement and Disposal of Assets Authority (PPDA), the Department of Buildings (DoB), the Roads Authority (RA) and the Government Contracting Unit (GCU) who presented on the common flaws that hinder Malawian bidders from getting Government and private contracts.
Speaking during the workshops, Chief Executive Officer for NCIC, Eng. Gerald Khonje, implored on the delegates to take the issues presented by the government departments seriously for them to fully utilize government’s policy directives on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Joint Venture Regulations. The two instruments are aimed at enhancing the participation of local contractors and consultants to participate better in government’s contracts.
“I am convinced that Malawian contractors and consultants can successfully undertake any amount of works and successfully deliver on the same if they play by the rules of the game”, said Khonje.
On their part, the contractors and consultants thanked NCIC and its leadership for availing such an opportunity to them. “This is the first time that NCIC has brought us together under one roof with procuring entities for such an eye-opening workshop. We wish to commend the management of NCIC for this and request that they keep the lines of contact open for us”, said a representative of the contractors, Mr. John Zinyongo.