CDCL should not compete for works, says CAB

The local contractors backed by the Construction Association of Bhutan (CAB) are crying foul over the Construction Development Corporation Ltd. (CDCL) eating away their market share.

They say CDCL competing for works is in defiance of the intent of its establishment, and is threatening the growth of the private sector.

CDCL is considered a well-established company in terms of both financial capital and machinery. And that no individual construction company would be able to compete with it.

CAB says that CDCL should restrict itself to taking up works that private contractors are not able to. It should provide technical back-up services to contractors and establish equipment bank to provide machinery the private contractors do not have.

The general secretary of CAB, Chheku Dukpa, said CDCL should undertake research and promotional activities to bring in new construction technology, and undertake trainings to strengthen human capital in the industry.

CDCL is a government corporation and enjoys the government’s full support, he said. The government, particularly the works and human settlement ministry, supports CDCL and is neglecting CAB.

If the company was established to facilitate the growth of the construction industry, Chheku Dukpa said there should be plans, programmes and policies that are lacking at present. He said that taking up construction works is not going to solve the problem, adding that it is wrong on CDCL’s part to take up works in the name of sustaining itself.

Explaining how the participation of CDCL in construction works affects the private contractors, a contractor says that a few thousand works are tendered including petty contracts in a year for about 2,700 contractors. It is difficult when everyone is competing for the same work, he said.

At present, CDCL had four works at hand.

The chief executive officer of CDCL, Phuntsho Gyeltshen, does not agree with what CAB and contractors have to say. He says there is enough works in the construction sector.

He said that CDCL came into existence for a good purpose – to facilitate the growth of the industry and save government’s money. When it participates in executing projects, it makes the industry competitive, saves the government’s money, and ensures quality works setting an example and precedence for a healthy growth, says the CEO.

The secretary general of CAB says CDCL has done nothing to set an example so far.  He says it has been established without any plans and policies, and has nothing concrete framed for the future.

Phuntsho Gyeltshen argues that to meet the expectations of the private sector, the resources of the company has to be considered. “We don’t have anything right now. We are not getting a single pie from the government, and we have to survive,” he said.

However, he said the company has been doing its bit to help the construction industry grow. It is providing training to use machinery in collaboration with the labour ministry.

CDCL is bringing in construction equipment that are not available in the industry like drilling machine, motor grader, and road roller. And the local contractors are using them. It has also been giving professional support to the local contractors.

The CEO says that his company has achieved a lot in two years.

He says the company has created about 600 employment opportunities and is already working with some private contractors. And has plans to work with the local contractors in mega projects.

Several trained people left CDCL to join the private sector injecting human resource into it, said Phuntsho Gyeltshen.

In the recent private sector development committee meeting in Thimphu, the works and human settlement minister, Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba, said CDCL is a company to lead by example and will help the private sector.

“The company has just started. It has conducted a lot of training that big private companies have not done so far,” said the minister.

The president of CAB, Ugyen Tsechub Dorji, at the same meeting, said that they support CDCL if it was to help and show the construction industry new and innovative ways of doing construction works. “But it has come in as a competitor,” he said.

“Is there anything wrong in CDCL participating and competing?” asked the minister. He said the company has participated in tenders and got the works.

By Sonam Pelden