‘NO RUSH TO APPROVE CIC REGULATIONS’

MBABANE – Government has made an undertaking not to rush approval of the contentious CIC Regulations.   

Minister of Public Works and Transport Lindiwe Dlamini, confirmed that she had received a letter from the Swaziland Contractors Association (SCA), requesting for the process to further consult with the Attorney General’s (AG) office and Cabinet on the Construction Industry Council (CIC) Regulations to be halted. After numerous consultations with stakeholders, the regulations had been submitted to the minister to consult with the AG’s office before presenting them for Cabinet’s approval, prior to being tabled in Parliament to be promulgated into law after His Majesty King Mswati III’s assent. 

Dlamini promised to undertake consultations with intent to get a legal opinion before issuing government’s official stance in relation to the recommendation from SCA.
“We have received the letter from SCA and will consult on it, then respond in due course,” said Dlamini. A fortnight ago, SCA issued a public statement calling upon government to stall the regulations approval process with immediate effect, until such time the CIC Act of 2013 has been reviewed.

When asked to categorically state whether the regulations approval process would be stalled in the meantime while she consults, Dlamini was non-committal, save to say; “We will not rush the approval process now that concerns have been raised by a large proportion of players within the construction industry.” Through a statement ,SCA said following a consultative workshop held with key stakeholders at Piggs’ Peak early this year, they resolved to engage the services of a legal practitioner to review the Draft Regulations with a view to ascertain their impact on the CIC Act and on the operations of contractors.

It was reported that the legal practitioner concluded his exercise and presented a report together with recommendations to the SCA executive committee.
The association explained that having taken into account all developments which include concerns from contractors, and the recommendations of the legal practitioner, the Board reached a conclusion that the draft regulations were inconsistent with the aspirations of our membership.

“It has been concluded that there are several areas of the CIC Act that impact negatively on the aspirations of our members. The regulations approval process should be suspended forthwith,” said SCA.

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