Member of Egyptian Businessmen’s Association and Egyptian Federation for Construction and Building Contractors (EFCBC) Daker Abdallah said government routine and bureaucracy are the main challenges that hinder construction companies.
Abdallah said these challenges threaten the fulfilment of the President’s promises to implement development projects as soon as possible, and obstruct the reduction of timelines for the implementation of these projects.
Abdallah emphasised, in press statements, the importance of overcoming all obstacles that construction companies face to support the Egyptian construction revolution. He said this revolution started with the National Roads Network, the New Suez Canal, and the one million housing units projects, among others in which the government bears the responsibility for their implementation.
He called upon the Prime Minister to focus on removing these obstacles and work on finding a radical solution for them, to save the real estate sector and its companies, and to ensure the implementation of major national projects in time.
He pointed out that the real estate sector is expected to see an unprecedented boom that requires abolishing all obstacles and creating a new generation of construction companies.
“According to the state’s administrative bodies, construction companies should provide reports on obstacles that disrupted the implementation of projects to the concerned authorities, and request extension of no less than 60 days,” Abdallah said.
The law also authorises the provision of justifications for the extension of the implementation periods of projects to the concerned authority, as well as studying them at any time, so that the concerned committees can fulfil their role and implement the projects in time.
According to Abdallah, construction companies are often hindered by the delay of these authorities in studying the obstacles for the implementation of projects, and sending reports on the obstacles to concerned committees before the implementation period, as a result of routine bureaucracy and lack of experience in managing documents.
He said this delays the implementation of projects, which then puts construction companies in legally vulnerable positions.
Awarding bodies are well aware of these administrative obstacles, but instead of resolving them, they take action against the companies to protect their legal status. He said this is a clear example of avoiding responsibility.
Awarding companies impose 10% of the contract value as delay fees, even if the implementation is 99% complete, Abdallah said.
