Weigh options before ‘cutting’

ALLOW me to toss some sense into the government’s spending projects that cannot be stopped midway and should be finished at all costs.
Some government projects sucked so much money that the option to cease would result in millions being wasted without any end results.
One example is the government’s integrated finance management system (IFMS) which the Finance department was embarking on from scratch, under trial and error, over a five year period.
It went into K500 million mark by 2010 and still 60% incomplete.
At that time, the tender board decided that a lot of money had been spent on the project and it could not be stopped until its delivery.
It endorsed the continuation of the project as requested by Finance department.
The same with Solwara 1 project on deep sea mining.
During its consultation stage, groups voiced concerns against the project regarding possible disturbances and displacement effects on the fishing grounds and the marine ecosystem.
The developer made assurances that mining would be conducted below the 200 meters level, with dredging through suction in an enclosed chamber.
The government had invested K400 million in the project.
The decision to stop has to be weighed out carefully by the government, as a partner in this pioneering project.
Again it will cost more to cease and will affect other areas of government budget.

GS,
Observer