There is a pressing need for a supervisory mechanism in organisations undertaking government projects to guarantee high-quality work in line with contractual standards and specifications, the Central Municipal Council (CMC) was told yesterday.
At the council’s regular bi-weekly session, CMC vice-chairman Hamad Lahdan al-Muhannadi urged that such a system should be developed based on the required standards for each project.
He noted that all contracting companies working on government projects should be re-evaluated for such works. Besides, keeping a periodically updated list of such companies should be made binding on the government entities concerned.
He added that it was necessary to create a database of contractors engaged through government tenders in order to be aware of all details of their companies.
Al-Muhannadi suggested that a comprehensive evaluation process be conducted in all engineering and architectural design firms alongside all the engineers who work for them. Then, these should be classified into different categories and the list should be periodically updated.
Similarly, a blacklist of contractors who violate the terms and conditions of their contracts or undermine quality in their works should be maintained in order to ban them from qualifying for any government tender.
The CMC also issued a number of recommendations addressed to the Ministry of Transport to ensure better safety and security measures in the public transport system.
The members urged that the distribution of bus stations in the country should be modified in accordance with the density of population in different areas. They also recommended that bus stops be supplied with a cooling system while keeping aesthetics in mind.
Further, the council recommended that a comprehensive scheme for bus routes and stops be adopted, and this could be integrated with the upcoming rail project.
The CMC also suggested that a 40,000sqm plot of land be allocated to create a public park in Al Khor/Al Zakhira to provide residents with recreational facilities.
Other recommendations included the need to build a wedding hall to cater to the requirements of people living in the Old Airport constituency.
