BHC fails council

Maranyane Ngwanaamotho | Wednesday February 26, 2014 15:21

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Tlokweng in February last year to mark the commencement of the construction of the houses in the district. 

When officially opening a full council session yesterday, Joseph Sorinyane, SECD chairperson said that 13 months later, construction of eight of the initial 34 houses have not even started. The workmanship of the houses under construction is also not up to standard to the extent that the council had to halt the process at some sites in Tlokweng.

In addition, some contractors have abandoned construction sites, he said.

Sorinyane said that due to the failure of BHC to deliver, the council is overwhelmed with complaints from beneficiaries.

“I am informed that our efforts to relay our concerns through written communication and visits to BHC have not yielded any positive results. I am hopeful that the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development in consultation with that of Lands and Housing will find a way in which BHC can be made to account to us about turnkey development scheme houses in our area,” he said.

During the meeting, councillors took turns to voice their displeasure with the corporation, some hinting that perhaps the council had been too lenient with BHC.

It was indicated that some material like cement that were bought for the projects have now expired which would only cumulate in further costs.

Meanwhile, Sorinyane has indicated that this financial year’s budgetary allocation would give priority to maintenance and efficient operation of exciting infrastructure, funding of key economic infrastructure such as water, energy, and communications to support growth, completion of ongoing projects and funding of social welfare programmes like the poverty eradication programme.