Many projects, often large-scale, are on hold or even blocked in the various regions. These blockages are generally due to inappropriate and outdated legislative and procedural considerations.
At the top of the list is the major El Menzah stadium project, the rehabilitation of which is the fruit of Tunisian-Chinese cooperation, with the redevelopment of the entire sports complex and many other facilities, such as the Belvedere municipal swimming pool.
At the root of these stumbling blocks are bureaucracy, lengthy procedures, a multitude of stakeholders and, of course, the inevitable corruption, the sad work of lobbies that fear for their own interests.
From Enfidha to the Medical City in Kairouan, as well as major infrastructure projects such as dams, bridges and highways, the duration of projects is almost always extended, to the great displeasure of the local population. Who is blocking them and why?
In any case, these blockages result in huge losses to the public budget and additional costs for Tunisian taxpayers.
Zenzri puts major public works under the microscope
Minister of Public Works and Housing, Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri, has stressed ‘the urgent need to review the procedure for awarding public contracts in order to guarantee the participation of contractors capable of carrying out major public projects’, according to a press release from her ministry.
Speaking at the regular conference of regional directors of public works and housing in Tunis, the minister stressed the importance of prior coordination with public concessionaires in order to avoid delays or blockages in the completion of projects and to ensure that contractual deadlines are met.
Zenzri also called for a new approach to work at the level of the Regional Directorates for Public Works and Housing, and for an action plan to be drawn up in line with the government’s new direction for the completion of major public projects, especially those that are blocked.
The aim is also to consolidate investment in the regions by speeding up the completion of projects and proposing urgent solutions for blocked projects.
The meeting also focused on the blocked regional projects in the road and bridge sector and ways to increase the rate of their completion. Some 104 projects are currently underway at a cost of 4,504 million dinars (MD).
According to the same source, there are 15 projects scheduled for completion in 2025, worth 2120 MD, and 45 projects scheduled for completion by the end of 2024, with an estimated total cost of 703 MD.
Saied calls for definitive solutions to blocked projects!
It is recalled that President Kais Saied has instructed Minister of Public Works and Housing, Sarra Zaafrani Zenzri, who had been also acting Minister of Transport, to find a definitive solution to the blocked projects, such as the one known as “Sama Dubai”, in a way that safeguards the interests of the Tunisian State.
The Head of State was informed of the state of implementation of certain major infrastructure projects and gave instructions on the need to speed up their completion as soon as possible, particularly in view of the availability of the funds earmarked for them.
The meeting also addressed the transport sector and the need to find urgent solutions to provide means of transport, especially as the repair of many metro cars, which have been out of service for years due to lack of maintenance, will soon begin, in addition to the acquisition of additional vehicles and the project to extend the Tunis-Carthage international airport and connect it to the Enfidha-Hammamet international airport by rail.
