LABEH NGO called attention to the Agency for National Development (AND) for demolishing several projects in breach of Law 11/2011.
The Executive Director of LABEH, Julio da Silva, said the agency is only mandated to monitor and certify construction projects but its mandate does not include ordering any demolitions of sites.
“Its Decree Law states the AND has the right to check projects, whether the winning company has its own machinery or not, so it can certify the project,” said Director da Silva from his office in Comoro, Dili.
He raised the issues in relation to the decision of the AND to demolish the old Comoro Bridge and other projects deemed of poor quality because the law does not make this function part of its mandate.
“Another of its competencies is that it must check whether national workers are working on the project or not or whether only foreigners are employed. They can stop operations of companies,” he added.
The AND also checks whether companies are financially sustainable prior the government starts disbursing funds to them.
“That’s their work not demolition. If they want they can make recommendations to the courts so the court makes a ruling on it,” said also Director da Dilva.
Meanwhile the MP Manuel Castro, Commission E (Infrastructure, Transport and Communications), said the AND is mandated by its law to verify, supervise and certify projects, “not to demolish a project.”
He added ensuring the quality of projects falls under the competency of the Ministry of Public Works (MOP).
MP Castro said AND demolished the Comoro Bridge because it was directly instructed by the Prime Minister.
“But I have noted so far only the work of small companies has been and the big companies remain unaffected,” said MP Castro.
The MP cited the example of Company Estrada Bo’ot that has been covering pot holes in the stretch of road between Dili and Baucau using only a very thin layers of asphalt and that AND has not gone to dismantle because it is not monitoring all projects effectively.
In the meantime, MP Paulino Monteiro, said the AND has to in fact also verify the quality of good projects not just poor projects but this has to happen from the very beginning of the project cycle until the very end.
“They have to monitor from the laying of the foundations until the end. What happens now is that only after much cement and rock has been wasted the project is demolished.
We disagree with this kind of waste,” said MP Monteiro.
He added there must be better coordination between all the actors responsible for monitoring these projects such as the Ministry of Public Works, the Secretariat of Professional Training Policy and Employment (SEFOPE), Districts Administrators, Sub-Districts Administrators including also the Heads of villages and sub-villages.
