President of China Civil, the construction company behind the Shakawe Senior Secondary School blunder, flew into the country this week to tender a personal apology to Batswana.
The man who heads the multi-billion dollar outfit that operates in more than 40 countries told Sunday Standard that the Shakawe Senior Secondary School project was completed “but has not been handed over to the client, as you may know, due to the omission of the brick force in part of brickwork walls constructed by China Civil, Tuwana and Whitacon. For this, I, the president of CCECC, hereby apologise sincerely to the people and government of Botswana. This is our mistake,” said Yuan Li.
The President of CCECC hinted that heads will roll as a result of the Shakawe project cock-up. “The whole Shakawe Senior Secondary School construction team will be replaced except for one or two engineers,” Yuan Li said in an exclusive interview.
Yuan Li met officials from the Ministry of Infrastructure, Science and Technology to tender an apology and present proposals that will “ensure that Botswana gets a fair deal, does not suffer any inconvenience from the issue and walk out of it happy.”
Although a structural analysis report by structural specialists, William Lee and Associates states that “even if the brick force are omitted in the existing brick walls at Shakawe Senior Secondary School, its structures would still be stable, fit for purpose and capable of withstanding the loads for which they were designed. Furthermore, no structural defects have existed in the building walls,” Yuan Li told Sunday Standard that among other things, China Civil will, “refund government payment of brick force; take necessary and reasonable steps to reinforce the structures; extend the defect liability period by 12 months to 24 months and that during this period and afterwards a maintenance team will be available at all times to attend to defects arising from omissions of brick force.”
The deal is expected to come at a huge financial cost to China Civil; Yuan Li however would not discuss the losses they are likely to incur saying “I am not worried about the financial losses. My main concern is that Botswana should get a fair deal.”
