NATIONAL Council for Construction (NCC) acting executive director Ernest Nshindano says although government is trying its best to be cost reflective in infrastructure development, this should not produce sub standard results.

In an interview, Tuesday, Nshindano said durability was key.

“I think we as the National Council for Construction are aware about the need to be using infrastructure that will stand the test of time and the reason is that the resource envelope for the government is limited and there are other areas that are demanding and needing the same. So I think it is very, very important that when resources are applied to develop infrastructure, we will ensure that enough resources are located not to have cheap infrastructure and not to have too expensive infrastructure. So the issue is the right cost,” he said.

“It should not necessarily be cheap infrastructure but I think spend the right cost to get the value for the money. When I talk about the right cost, it simply means that you get the quality, you get the durability, you get the safety in infrastructure. So those aspects have to be taken into account. So we really appreciate that the government’s intention is not necessarily is not just to build cheaper infrastructure. I think the intention is to build quality, durable infrastructure.”

He, however, noted that reasonably priced bids would allow the government to construct more infrastructure.

“What it means is that we might do more with the same amounts of resources that are available. The government will be able to do much more kilometers than they would have done if the contract was expensive. The government would have built an extra block of classrooms if we are ensuring that the cost is reflective of the value,” he said.

“At the end of it all, if you put together all the infrastructure that is being developed and you are saving a particular percentage, that’s so to say, you put together the saved percentages and be able to use it to build an extra kilometer, to build an extra office so forth and so on. So that is the important aspect of that approach.”

Meanwhile, Nshindano reaffirmed the council’s commitment to ensuring it advised government on the value of money aspect of the contracts which were being given out.

“I think we are aware that as the National Council for Construction, part of our reporting system and advice we will be giving to the government is to advise the government on the quality and for the value of money for the cost that the contracts are being given out. It’s done so that the government can make an informed decision even from an independent point of view as the National Council for Construction is concerned,” said Nshindano.