Monday 23rd January, 2023, the Minister of Public Works, Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi, chaired the Semi-Annual Conference in the presence of the Minister Delegate at the Presidency in charge of Public Contracts, Ibrahim Talba Malla, and the Secretary of state in the Ministry of Public Works in charge of roads, Armand Ndjodom and closed collaborators of the Ministry. An opportunity for the minister used to take stock of the system for monitoring and evaluating the performance of contractors and quality control to find lasting solutions for the current year. The Workshops were divided and shared into three different parts.
The Minister assigned Technical Adviser No 1, Akono Mvondo Léopold to chair part 3 of the workshop, accompanied by the presenter the Head of National Brigade for Direct Labour, Adamou Moussa, he did the presentation under the theme: Executing works under direct labor and managing resources. The beginning of a workshop, aimed at reviewing lasting solutions to the plight concerning difficulties encountered on the field.
Speaking during the workshop, the Technical Adviser recalled the objectives of the gathering which is to bring out a sustainable method to tackle problems encountered in the field hindering infrastructure works under direct labor, in the domain of resources human, material, financial, clearance, and project implementation management. It should be noted that direct labor is an approach by which the administration or Regional and local authorities carry out work by themselves, using their human and material resources. The Ministry of Public Works’ budget is the main source of funding for projects under direct labor, followed by Road Funds and the rapid intervention service.
Direct Labor has as its objective, to rapidly engage in an emergency that occurs spontaneously, the ability to instantly mobilize the necessary human, material, and financial resources which is the only real guarantee for the invention under management.
Looking at the difficulties encountered, some points raised during the workshop, dwelled on the same aspect both technically, materially, and financially, the actors concerned expressed their uncomfortably as far as the method of payment is concerned. Their plight was for the ministry to see how it can change the method of payment because most of the delegates and the regional delegates cried and pleaded for a change. This is because money given through fuel tickets demands a lot of time to be converted to Francs CFA, and when they succeed, exchange charges are being deducted. Thus, real cash is lesser than commodity money, leading to a slow down in work execution.
Responding to their plight, the Director of General Affairs explained that the method was been put in place to facilitate payment to solve emergency problems when there is no liquid cash. On the part of the Road Fund, the representative explained that fuel tickets are the only fastest method they think will facilitate payment. The actors cried and pleaded for the financial sector to see ways in which fuel tickets should not be the only method of payment because it slows down work in the field. Another suggestion was raised for the Execution and Control Brigades, to produce the execution project and the action plan. The indications involving all the stakeholders (administrative authorities, beneficiaries, other Administrations concerned, etc.) Were strongly recommended and would promote the achievement of the expected results.
Looking at the solutions, certain measures have to be put in place to mitigate the impact of these constraints on activity. These include, among others: The finalization and implementation of the Manual of Procedures for projects under management; The initiation of the training module designed for the various actors involved in management operations, and lastly, the establishment of an advanced fund to allow real flexibility in the conduct of certain acts.
