Londuimbali - The Huambo provincial government has said it will terminate construction contracts, with defaulting companies responsible for 33 from the total of 39 social public projects that are currently paralyzed.
The information was disclosed by the director of the Studies and Planning Office (GEP) Feliciano Pires on the sidelines of the first session of the Huambo provincial government chaired by the province governor Lotti Nolika.
Feliciano Pires said the authorities' decision aims at meeting the basic social needs of the population, especially in the education, health and road infrastructure sectors.
He pointed to the existence of companies that signed contracts many years ago to build public projects as part of the implementation of the Integrated Intervention Plan for Municipalities (PIIM), but so far have not completed the work.
Feliciano Pires added that, initially, the contracts for 33 projects of duly identified companies will be cancelled so that they can later be held legally responsible for contributing to the delay in resolving the population's problems.
According to the official, Huambo province currently has 39 projects that have been paralyzed and 18 that have not started, due to non-compliance by the contractors, mainly in the municipalities of Chicala-Cholohanga, Chinjenje and Mungo.
So far, Huambo province has completed and made available to the population 188 PIIM projects, which began in 2019.
At least 291 projects, 277 of which have already been catalogued by the National Directorate for Public Infrastructure Investments (DNIP), have been registered by the government authorities of Huambo province as part of the Integrated Municipal Intervention Plan (PIIM).
Located on the country's Central Plateau, Huambo is home to 2.7 million inhabitants spread over 11 municipalities and 37 communes.
Created to cover the country's 164 municipalities, the PIIM favors a set of initiatives aimed at implementing the policies set out in the National Development Plan (PDN 2018-2022), in line with the National Strategic Plan for Territorial Administration (PLANEAT 2015-2025). MLV/JSV/ALH/AMP
