Committee Programme and Committee Annual Report

Meeting report

PUBLIC WORKS PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE
19 January 2005
COMMITTEE PROGRAMME AND COMMITTEE ANNUAL REPORT

Chairperson: Mr F Bhengu (ANC)

Relevant documents:
Draft Committee Programme
Draft Annual Report: May- November 2004
Summary of the Annual report 2003/04 of the Construction Industry Development Board
Summary of the Annual report 2003/04 of the Independent Development Trust

SUMMARY
The Committee considered and adopted both its draft Programme for January until May and Draft Annual Report for the year 2004. The Committee agreed not to consider the annual reports of the Construction Industry Development Board (CIBD) and the Independent Development Trust (IDT) until the entities had appeared before it. The Committee would request information from the Department of Public Works on why the contract awarded to Sidebene Facilities Management, a company doing some work in Parliament, had been extended.

MINUTES
The Chairperson welcomed members from the December break and commenced with the business of the day. He presented the Committee’s draft programme and the annual report. Certain minor changes were made to both the programme and the annual report. He had hoped that the annual reports of the CIBD and the IDT would be discussed in the meeting. However, the Committee could not do so because it had not yet engaged the entities on the report. The Council for the Built Environment had not submitted its annual report. The Chairperson requested the Committee Secretary to contact the Council and find out why it had not submitted the report.

The Chairperson said that he had proposed that the programming Committee must schedule the Portfolio Committee’s budget debate for the 15, 16 or 17 March (just before Parliament rises for the Easter recess). This would allow the Committee to finish its provincial visits which were scheduled to start at the end of January. The Committee would undertake an international study tour in the April-May constituency period.

The Committee would visit the national and four provincial Departments of Public Works from the 31 January to 10 February 2005 to assess and monitor progress on the implementation of the Expanded Public Works Programme. There would be public hearings on the Department’s budget vote on the 3, 4 and 7 March.

The Chairperson said that the Committee should get more information on the extension of the contract awarded to Sidebene Facilities Management which was servicing Parliament. The contract had expired in December 2004 and was extended until March 2005. It was important know what caused the extension of the contract. There were complaints that were raised by some contractors about the extension. The Committee should also investigate why the tendering process for new contracts had not been completed in December 2004.

The meeting was adjourned.