Date Of Article: 4/2/2003
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NCIC launches training courses
By: Leonard Sharra
In a bid to address some of the problems being faced Malawian contactors, the National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) has launched a two-year training programme for local contractors who have been finding it hard to fairly compete with their international counterparts. The training programme is to be carried out by an international consulting firm, Norconsult, which last week conducted a project formulation workshop to get the training requirements for local contractors. Speaking at the opening of the workshop, which marked the launch of the programme, NCIC’s board chairman Mike Polela said the launch of the programme was a result of studies, seminars, workshops and meetings, which he said were aimed at setting out an action plan for the development of competent consulting and contracting industry in Malawi. He noted that the local consulting and contracting capacity was limited with most of the problems associated with the industry attributed to low capacity and incompetence. Said Polela: “One of the major functions of the NCIC is to develop the construction industry in Malawi through delivery and coordination of appropriate training with the aim of addressing the needs of the industry. It is through this programme that many local consultants shall have the opportunity to take part in live training projects as one way of building their capacity. It is through this consultancy programme that the NCIC secretariat shall be strengthened with provision of equipment and personnel for the efficient management of the construction industry. The forgoing clearly underscores the importance of this training consultancy,” said Polela. Norconsult’s National Training Coordinator Rodney Kumsinda said his firm organised the workshop to get views from the contractors regarding their training requirements. “We have to get views from the stakeholders regarding their training needs, then design an appropriate training programme. The training programme will run for two years after which Malawians from the NCIC will (take over),” said Kumsinda. The training consultancy is funded under the Road Maintenance and Rehabilitation Project (Romarp), which is a result of the agreement between Malawi government, the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank and the Nordic Development Fund (NDF). The World Bank observed at the launch of the Romarp programme in 1999 that Malawian contractors were too poor to compete with international contractors hence the need for adequate training.
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