MPS PAY UP TO E20K KICKBACKS AT WORKS TO FIX ROADS

MBABANE – Members of Parliament (MPs) made startling submissions on how they are allegedly made to incentivise officials at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to get services.

The legislators told the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, that they paid as high as E20 000 to get resources such as tractor loader backhoes (TLBs) or graders for rehabilitating roads in their respective communities. Somntongo MP Sandile Nxumalo said among other things that they were made to pay for was diesel, for the machinery to be allocated to the area  where it was needed. Nxumalo, who was engulfed by emotions while making his submissions yesterday, revealed that his suspicions were that there were progressives within the ministry, who were letting down the system, judging by how some officials were treating them as legislators.

He shared that at some point, he went to the nearest depot and discovered that a gravel road at his constituency was among those that were scheduled to be rehabilitated, but he was astonished to learn that he had to dig deeper into his pocket to pay for diesel for the machinery to be released. “Why on earth should I pay for a service that is on a government schedule and one that should be catered for by the funding from government? There is a lot of rot at the ministry and I suspect that there are progressives within the ministry’s officials who are letting down the system,” he said.

Recalled

Mayiwane MP Sicelo Khungankhosi Dlamini recalled how he paid at least E18 000 from his pocket to get one of the gravel roads in his constituency rehabilitated. He said that some of the officials told them during their early days in office as legislators that they would not be assisted if they spoke ill of them in Parliament. He also alleged that some tinkhundla were prioritised over others because the officials were benefitting from those tinkhundla centres. “All we are requesting is that the ministry should treat us equally. No inkhundla should be more important than the other and the services rendered should be rationed fairly and equivalently,” he said.

The MP even went on to submit that at the rate things were going, the ministry was taking legislators for granted and to justify his submission, he said the machinery allocated to the tinkhundla was seldom there and they knew nothing about its whereabouts, nor were they attended to respectfully when enquiring. He also stated that by providing the services to the people at constituency level, it was erasing any thought of backlash against government, because poor service delivery was one of the excuses for the ugly scenes witnessed back in 2021, unless there were progressives within the ministry who were planting anarchy.

Lobamba MP Michael Masilela submitted that the ministry was now perceived as the cash cow for greedy and corrupt officials, who were making a killing at the expense of the citizenry. “Legislators pay as much as E20 000 to access government machinery in the spirit of bringing service to the people and this is a cause for concern,” he said. Chairman of the ministry’s portfolio committee and Sigwe MP David ‘Cruiser’ Ngcamphalala, suggested that the ministry should make regular visits to the depots to monitor its operations; something he said could curb the ills submitted by the legislators.

Treated

Minister Chief Ndlaluhlaza noted that most of the submissions of the MPs were centred around challenges on roads and depots and he assured the MPs that this would be looked into, because legislators did not deserve to be treated the way they were treated as per their submissions. Meanwhile, the issue of feeder roads being in a bad state formed part of the submissions yesterday, with almost all the MPs requesting for graders to be allocated to their respective constituencies for rehabilitation of the roads. Shiselweni II MP Bhekithemba Bhembe said he was served with a petition by some head teachers within the constituency, who reminded him that the rainy season was around the corner and he should do something to get the roads in a good state or schools would be closed during rainy days.

Post your comment

Your name:

Your e-mail address:

Add your comments:

Please enter the code you see in the image:

Image:

Code: