KAMPALA – Roko Construction Ltd has termed ‘social media reports that the company is doing shoddy work on the construction of Uganda Tourism School’ as lies.
Uganda received financing from the International Development Association (IDA) toward the cost of the Competitiveness and Enterprise Development Project (CEDP), and it applied part of the proceeds of this credit to payments under the Contract for the Construction of the Uganda Hotel Tourism and Training Institute (UHTTI) on Plot 3 and 5 Nalufenya Road, Jinja, Uganda.
Roko Construction Ltd (Main Contractor) entered into a contract with the Government represented by Private Sector Foundation Uganda to construct the Uganda Hotel and Tourism Training Institute (UHTTI) phase I on 7th March 2018.
The site was handed over to Roko on 10th April 2018 for commencement of works for a construction period of 12Months and completion by 10th April 2019.
According to the company, an extension of time awards at no cost were given to 30th August 2019, 13th December 2019, and 14th February 2020 respectively due to Variations and additional works to the contract.
“Furthermore, due to the effects of Covid-19, restrictions and directives, the contractor operations and cash flow was affected and extension was granted with no costs up to 30th September 2020 and 9th January 2021 to implement mitigative measures, completion was further jeopardized by the second wave of Covid-19 in the country and the expected completion of phase 1 works is now 22nd October 2021.”
The scope of work includes; construction of a double storied reinforced concrete framed Hotel Building of the approximate total floor area of 5,147 square meters; 2 training Kitchens and 2 Training Restaurants of approximate area of 699 square meters; a laundry block of the approximate total floor area of 183 square meters; 2 gatehouses, a powerhouse and a garbage collection house of approximately 47 square meters;
The services include Electrical, Mechanical, and ICT Installations, and Health, safety & environmental safeguards, and external works.
According to Roko Construction Ltd, publicist, Mr. Bernard Muhangi, the company is committed to executive quality works as per the contract.
“We as a company are focused on achieving practical completion of the project as soon as possible while maintaining the highest quality standards in construction using high-quality materials and very skilled manpower to satisfy our customer requirements,” he said.
“This is one of our core values and we maintain these in the execution of all our projects. Quality control checks are always made periodically and when necessary; therefore, leaving no room for compromising on quality. We are ISO 9001:2015 (Quality Management Systems) certified therefore shoddy works never exist in Rokos vocabulary, however, works at the above project might look incomplete but this is for a reason as their completion is dependent on the conclusion of phase 2 documentation,” Muhangi said.
Based on the Interim payment certificate No.24 issued by the Consultants Arch Design Ltd and the client to the contractor, the financial progress of the project is 88.28% and Physical progress is at 89%.
However, the company says they are in the process of concluding documentation for the second phase which shall include the construction of one additional floor to the Hotel Block with all electrical and mechanical reticulation.
“As a result of the additional floor, some finishes and services shall be affected and can’t be completed in the first phase,” said Muhangi, revealing that such finishes and services shall be deferred to the second phase. “Therefore, actual physical progress is approximately 90-95% currently after removing works that can’t be completed now.
Accordingly, the 2-storey hotel block is at 89% complete, 68% progress for the demonstration kitchen, 73% progress for the laundry kitchen.
“The Gatehouses, powerhouse, external works and electrical reticulation are complete, the garbage collection house is at 76% complete while the mechanical reticulation is at 57% complete, however, the bulk of the mechanical works shall be differed to phase two.”
