Posted on October, 3, 2018 at 10:15 am
THE Government has warned contractors working on irrigation projects to comply with laid down contraction requirement for quality works or else they risk being blacklisted from doing any work in the future.
The warning was issued by the Acting Director of Planning, Designing and Private Sector Development from National Irrigation Eng Muyenjwa at a three day commission training seminar held at Igunga District in Tabora Region.
Eng Maugo stressed that the government was keen to see that the value for money for its projects was realized and that whoever will perform below standards would not be tolerated.
“There has been a tendency in the past years for some contractors to construct poor irrigation infrastructures. I want to assure you that this cannot be tolerated anymore,” he said.
The training seminar brought together sixty participants including contractors working on irrigation schemes, zonal irrigation engineers and district agricultural officers from eight irrigation zones which are Tabora, Mwanza, Mtwara, Mbeya, Morogoro, Kilimanjaro, Dodoma and Katavi.
He said the objective of the training was to build the capacity of the contractors working in the irrigation schemes and the NIRC engineers and local government officials in charge of supervision of the projects.
Speaking earlier, the chief advisor for the JIICA supported projects on capacity development for the promotion of irrigation schemes under the district agricultural development plans Phase II (TANCAID II) Yamauchi Yoichi said that the project was aimed at supporting irrigation schemes development in the country by providing technical and management knowledge in planning and supervising construction works.
Yoichi said that the project was also aimed at providing knowledge on operation and maintenance to irrigator’s organisations and district agriculture officers in the country so that irrigation schemes remain sustainable even when donor’s support end.
Yoichi said the project offers training to experts on irrigation facilities following comprehensive guidelines on formulation, implementation, operation and maintenance developed under the JIICA support.
He further said that with the training it was expected that all stakeholders in the irrigation schemes project would handle construction works carefully and complete them with high quality and within the contract’s timeframe.
“I hope with this training the construction works at all irrigation sites will be of high quality,” Yoichi said.
As part of practical training participants visited the Mwalunii irrigation scheme which is under construction.
Source: IPP Media