Chairperson, first of all I would like to thank the hon members for their support for the Bill, and also for pointing out those areas in which they want us to be extra vigilant. It was interesting to note that some amakhosi can still wax lyrical. The first speaker was really good, and it reminded me of the days when I was part of Contralesa. [Laughter.] I want to assure this House that, as Public Works, we actually want to ensure that the construction industry does become regarded as one of the assets of Government. We also want to believe that it is the type of industry that, if well organised, will be able, as much as any other industry within Government, to form relationships and ties even across our borders, if it is well managed. I do want to believe that the board that we are talking about today is something that, as members have also acknowledged, could be just the right institution to make sure that the aspirations of the people within the industry are met.
I want to assure members that in the choice of whoever serves on the board, some of their concerns will have to be addressed. The very fact that we have said that it is going to be geographic shows clearly that we are mindful of the fact that there are provinces out there and that the people have got their own aspirations. We are also putting the whole issue of ethics at the forefront. We want to believe that if there is no code of conduct, if people are not registered, the issues around accountability become very difficult.
In the year that I have been in Public Works, one of the disturbing features has been the manner in which at times, as Government, we are taken for a ride, in the sense that one gets a contractor quoting how much will be spent on a particular job, but, when one actually looks at the product, which might have been passed as the right product by officials from our department, one just says to oneself, ``Goodness me! Only a quarter of what was budgeted has been used on this.'' Hence one gets sad stories like that of the classroom which fell on children. Hence one gets stories like those about what I sometimes fondly call ``winter roads'', which get washed away in summer.
I do want to believe that this will be part of what this board has to be vigilant about, so that we really maintain good standards. If this industry is to be an industry to be reckoned with, if it is to be highly competitive, it really has to uphold the highest standards.
I must say to hon members that I have been whispering in corridors and in my office that we have to blacklist some of the people who really give us shoddy work. Someone said there was a mushrooming of the number of contractors, and I have noticed that, especially when I deal with the Community-Based Public Works Programme. One just wonders. One day a group of young people - I happen to know one of them - came into my office. They were coming straight from their Std 10 classroom and told me that they were already forming a consortium. I just could not believe what was not happening.
When I asked who was backing them, I discovered that there was not so much by way of backing as they already had a contract to build a road. My question to them was: Who, at that committee, deals with tenders? So one of the things we are paying particular attention to is the whole issue of capacity-building, because it is highly critical. The area in which people believe that Government has not delivered is always around issues to do with capacity-building.
It is important and pleasing that Government is putting the whole issue of human resource development at the forefront. Members might not have noticed, but there is a lot of work going on in the partnership that Public Works now has with the Department of Labour in ensuring that there is some kind of training so that we end up showing areas of excellence, because this is an industry we are proud of.
The issue of maintenance was also mentioned. One of the downfalls and one of the areas in which we find ourselves having to pay the price of neglect is over some of the Government buildings that we have. Hence, as a department, we were happy when Cabinet agreed that with every new building that we put up in future we must, right from the outset, set aside 1,3% to see to the future maintenance of that particular building.
I thank the hon members, and I think the manner in which they have handled this Bill really makes me feel encouraged that the step we have taken as Public Works is appreciated, and if there is such encouragement, we dare not fail. [Applause.]
Debate concluded.
Bill agreed to in accordance with section 65 of the Constitution.