Part 3 Project Management
HAVING discussed the background story, having talked about the EOI authenticity, the PPP part, affordability, choice of builder/investor, possibility of another Tacirua East New Subdivision happening, the developer making fair money, and having asked whether the whole idea is a pie-in-the-sky, we are yet to look at the engineering and construction management and compliance side. We will do so now.
Who manages the affordable housing project? The carefully assembled team of independent experts, not limited to locals, will oversee the project(s) right from the bidding to the handing over stage.
This team doubles up as the think-tank for the Government, and can have as many as twenty members, none with any vested interest financially in any part of the project.
The team members must not have any form of conflict of interest in the whole scheme of things.
We cannot appoint people who may be very senior engineers and highly successful financially but also be part of a bidder.
We have seen numerous examples in the not-so-distant past of blatant conflict-of-interest situations and I am not naming people here.
If someone has read part 1 and 2 of this series, and is reading this right now, you have names and cases already running through your hippocampus and cortex.
You may say them aloud to ease the frustration welling up within! (Part 1 https://www.fijitimes.com/opinion-cracking-thecode-affordable-housing-for-low-and-middle-income-families-part-1/, Part 2 https://www.fijitimes.com/opinion-cracking-thecode- affordable-housing-for-low-and-middle- income-families-part-2/)
Working with strict guidelines, the team, during the vetting and selection process, will ensure that the building designs meet the standards stipulated in Fiji’s Building Code. (This is currently under review, to my knowledge).
Engineering standards must not be compromised, for example, where 16mm rebars are required, the design cannot have 12mm bars.
Some years ago when a contractor (under a general contract) was building my house in Nausori, he very smartly placed 12mm bars in the foundation bond block row instead of the 16mm that was in the approved drawing.
When I visited the site unannounced one day, all his workers suddenly ran to a section and sat there until I had left the site.
They were sitting there to hide the 12mm bars they had placed all around. Throwing a tarpaulin over was probably going to make it look too obvious on a sunny day!
I had them demolish and rebuild with the correct specifications.
Reinforcement steel sold in Fiji is usually of high grade (500) and can be used on structures of any size.
However, rebars are getting expensive every year, so builders must be allowed to import re bars of similar or higher grade if that saves them cost.
The same goes for all other building materials as long as specified standards are met or bettered.
To make the deal lucrative, Government can provide duty exemption for investors for the importation of major materials but not for consumables.
This has been done for at least one major project in the private sector in Fiji in the past decade.
The idea is to make the project affordable to the investor first, and then only can we talk about making the product affordable to the customer.
Compliance and the team
The OHS and Environment arms of Government have many stories to tell about the noncompliance and breaches they come across on a regular basis, especially on construction projects. Therefore, the management team must have a member each from the National OHS department and Environment department.
A member also comes from the city or town council which holds jurisdiction of the project’s location.
That’s three people. An officer assigned by the IFC sits on that committee to ensure matters don’t go astray.
The Finance Ministry sends two strategic planning personnel. The Housing Ministry has three people on the team.
The Social Welfare Ministry sends a member. The Director of Town and Country Planning would be a key member.
One member from the CSO group. Five engineers including a geotechnical expert, a quantity surveyor, an architectural/ structural engineer, a quality control expert and one smart individual like Mr Colin Radford from the private sector. That man is smart.
He’ll probably never find out I wrote this here! That’s 17 people, and we still have room for 3 more. One each from FRA, WAF and the Prime Minister’s Office completes the team.
Of course, Government will come up with a better team than the one I just conjured up!
We now have our compliances in order with the right mix of individuals on the team guiding the team and the contractor on every aspect of the project.
It just can’t fail. I did not even leave room on the team for myself, and that’s called unconditional love for my people and country.
Where to start from?
We start from the Central Division. Now, please don’t tell me there’s no land available.
There’s in fact no concrete plan available.
Once we have a plan, both land and the investor will be available. IFC I believe is already tired of waiting for us to come up with a plan.
It will make interesting reading if the IFC top man based in Fiji says something, not necessarily citing my articles, but shedding light on whatever happened to the agreement signed between them and the Fiji Government as reported on their website on March 18, 2019.
To some, all this may sound like a pie-in-the-sky, but to most readers who have read this far, you yourselves are raring to get on board, into that team that will run the project! We must make the right kind of noises first.
Many of us are no longer looking at house sale adverts by realtors. Many of our folks will continue squatting and resorting to vakavanua agreements. It is sad that all those informal settlements or illegal dwellings along Cunningham, Khalsa Road and many other roads cannot be removed or relocated.
They cannot be removed just because we are not able to provide an affordable alternative.
Model towns and HART homes do not resolve the problem of unaffordable housing.
We are talking about people who qualify for mortgage loans but not for million dollar properties (actually worth less than half in reality).
We are not talking about extremely destitute families or, (uncomfortable saying it) people picked up from the streets and put into a shelter. Government and NGO’s are looking after them well already. No one can argue that Government isn’t doing anything for them. A lot of them just return to the streets every second week or so!
Whatever is done, must kick off straightaway, not three years later.
DONALD SINGH is a regular contributor to this newspaper. The views expressed here are his and not necessarily of this newspaper.
