THE Ministry of Health has attributed 12 reasons as to why 62 of its projects have been delayed. After going through the reasons, I remembered the story of a general who asked his artillery commander the reasons why he did not fire. The commander gave ten answers, the first being that there was no ammunition. The commander never went on to mention the other reasons, believing that the first was sufficient. Before I discuss the 12 reasons the ministry shared, I would like to look at the first one: “Inability to complete studies of the projects before offering thems for bidding.” Remember, we are talking about one of the oldest ministries in town. This ministry has its own planning and development department that employs legal consultants and experts. Imagine this ancient ministry rushes to present projects without having completed the required studies. After that, a spokesperson announces that these projects are delayed, and looks for an excuse to justify the ministry's negligence. The excuse could be the contractor, the circumstance, or maybe even the weather. The ministry's remaining reasons are even worse! They actually condemn the ministry and not excuse its failure to complete any project. For example, they list the incompetency of the supervisory team and lack of updated timetables. These tasks are actually the responsibility of any ministry that offers projects to contractors. It seems like there is no proper consideration put into the selection of contractors either. Whoever bids the lowest gets the job, regardless of quality or competence. The ministry has tried hard to blame others in explaining the failure to complete its projects, such as a lack of suitable contractors. Why would the ministry hire an incompetent contractor anyway? Is it because he is a relative or a friend? Are there no other contractors in town? Another excuse the ministry puts forward is a delay in financial support. Of course the ministry had to blame the Ministry of Finance at some point. Almost all ministries blame insufficient finances for their incomplete projects. But what about completed projects that were not up to quality standards? This raises other questions about the team that checks the quality of completed projects. We cannot resolve this chaos without holding each person accountable for delayed or incomplete projects. It is only then that the blame game will stop and everyone will take responsibility for their own actions.
