Contractor ducks and dives
2011-09-08
Lise Beyers
A LOCAL garden service is owed more than R15 000 by a contractor of the Drakenstein Municipality who was unable to perform his duties. Willie Koopman of Point Civils was awarded a two year contract by the Municipality to clean the banks of the Berg River in Paarl, between Cecilia Street and Oosbosch Street. But according to Gerrit van Zyl, who owns a garden service and Sibanye Landscaping, he was sub-contracted by Koopman who was unable to perform these tasks. The first problem was that Koopman was unable to transport his workers and that he did not have the means to transport rubble and branches to the municipal dump. “He asked me if I could do this work on his behalf and we agreed on a price of R1200 per day which I put in writing. “While I was doing this work, I could see that he was battling to take charge of his assignment. He did not have enough qualified workers to tackle the prescribed job and he had to hire the necessary equipment such as chain-saws and weed-eaters. “What was also worrying was that they did not know how to use such very dangerous equipment. “Koopman then asked me for a quotation to take over the work from him. I gave him a written quotation of R2850 per day to supply skilled labour, a foreman and the necessary equipment.” Koopman accepted this and Van Zyl’s workers got down to work, but after two days of river clearing, Koopman said that his services were no longer needed. At this stage, Van Zyl was owed for six days’ work for transporting Koopman’s workers and two for cleaning the banks of the river. The total sum owed by Koopman to Van Zyl, including VAT, is R15 618. According to Van Zyl, after three months, Koopman has not paid him a cent and he is ignoring his telephone calls. “I also cannot understand how the Municipality can award a tender to a business which is evidently incapable of doing the job. Koopman does not even have the right equipment for the job.” Koopman’s contract is still valid for 2012. On Point Civils’s website he advertises professional services from road construction to bush clearing and training. But the website has no contact telephone numbers or physical address. All attempts to contact Koopman proved fruitless. The Drakenstein Municipality said that the work which Koopman was contracted for, was done to their satisfaction.
More
News
|
