Sonam Rinzin also said that government agencies were not strictly following the financial and procurement manual, which could make a significant difference in the contractor’s performance. At the same time, many government projects were being executed departmentally, depriving private contractors of opportunities.

The minister of the works and human settlement, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, said that, although the construction industry in the country had improved in the past many years, it still needed to be strengthened. “Every now and then, we see papers about problems, delays, quality and sometimes irregularities. These are pointers that the construction capacity in Bhutan is still weak,” he said.

The minister said that he agreed that contractors were not given enough time to complete projects. “I think it happened because of the budgeting system. They must be given a realistic timeline to plan, design and construct.”

He also said that tender documents, as well as the procurement manual, needed to be improved. “For both documents I want to take the views of the contractors fully,” said Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba. “On the need to relax some of the conditions, like the number of works in hand, calls for a thorough study.”

The minister said that he would insist on extending the liability period. “Presently, it’s six months but, if made longer, I think people will become more responsible and there’ll be less problems with quality.”

The minister said that improving monitoring and supervision from the government’s side and rewarding and punishing contractors, based on their performance, were some of the other measures the ministry was looking at to plug loopholes in the tendering norms.

“Corruption will not be tolerated in the construction sector. Bribery and fronting are seen to be affecting work quality. But, for contractors who perform well, they’ll be given preference in future contracts.”

Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba said that the proposal to set up a construction development fund will be scrutinized thoroughly.