Switching gears
The bureaucractic meanderings that characterize the greater part of legislation governing the planning and execution of public works projects has got the industry wringing its hands with worry about making deadlines, particularly the golden 2012 deadline set by UEFA for the champtionship games the following year. According to Bartłomiej Sosna, a construction market analyst at PMR, tight deadlines for the construction of some 4,000 km of highways and expressways across the country give little leeway in cases where disputes arise regarding land procurement or the public tender process.
Tug of war
Late last month, a certain Mr. Trocki in the town of Nowe Gatne, situated along the planned Augustowa ring road, appeared on live television to protest the (purportedly unlawful) encroachment of builders on his field. Yet, according to industry analysts, updated legal provisions were intended to make such scenes a thing of the past.
"Generally speaking, land acquisition takes place when the administrative decision regarding the location of the road becomes final," explained Katarzyna Domańska-Mołdawa, attorney-at-law at legal firm BSJP. "Indemnification for expropriation is established in a separate decision so that disputes between the investor and the former owner regarding compensation do not block the main process."
In short, once the Voivode has issued a building permit, bulldozers can enter the property even when the land procurement transaction is contested by the former owner and is awaiting appeal. The appeals process deals mainly with settling compensation, taking for granted the absorption of the property by the National Treasury as per the imperative nature of such actions with regard to public works projects.
Sore losers
The second problem cited by Sosna is the cumbersome appeal phase of the public tender process, in which digruntled firms who lose out on a tender are known to comb through the winner's contract in search of even the most minute details in an attempt to nullify the result and give losers another crack at the pot. According to a report issued by the American Chamber of Commerce earlier this year, many appeals have been based on such absurd details as "the difference between 0.29 tons and 292.6 kg." Often, even a misplaced comma can push the matter to trial, delaying design or construction work by anywhere from one month to several years.
Artur Mrugasiewicz, spokesman for the General Directorate for National Roads and Motorways (GDDKiA) counters that protests (in both the land procurement and public tender phase) occur sporadically and that the majority of land procurement procedures for all roads are in their final phase, to be completed by the end of 2008. "We didn't just wake up in 2007 with this enormous task to accomplish," he said, averring that if that were the case, "we definitely would not manage it in time. Our current progress on the national road program is significant given all but one (the A-4 Tarnów-Karczowa, section of the A-4 highway) were already initiated, in line with EU infrastructure projects."
Taking issue
Wojciech Malusi, president of the All-Polish Economic Chamber of Road Building does not share this enthusiasm. Malusi represents over 200 construction firms on the Polish market, many of which were reluctant to comment independently on their grievances with how public works projects are managed, presumably to avoid tarnishing their record in future tenders. Malusi's assessment of the cooperation between the various agencies in charge of the road building program is not favorable.
"Greater consolidation with regard to responsibility for progress on road building is necessary for real progress to be made. Transport Minister Jerzy Polaczek has come up with quite an ambitious plan but he lacks the authority to execute and finance the program directly. In addition, cooperation between the Ministry and the Directorate is very poor and this puts unnecessary delays on getting roadwork underway."
Malusi's chief complaint is the shortage of tenders announced, which is the result of delays in project preparation. He reported that the majority of construction firms are working at 40-50 percent of their capacity for the sole reason that there are too few tenders announced. "We consider this another year wasted for road building," he stated. Malusi granted that the games had indeed provided the necessary impetus to speed up work on roads that might have trailed on indefinitely. He refuted the claim that construction firms have their own part in delaying construction by filing trivial appeals, countering that "if mistakes weren't made by incompetent bureaucrats, there would be no such points of contention."
Swift solutions
Malusi believes the only solution is the creation of an independent government office that would control all aspects of construction along the current national road program. Dorota Dabrowski, director of the American Chamber of Commerce, is also in favor of the mandate of a "road czar dedicated to getting the job done, simplifying legislation and making the terms of projects more competitive to attract more skilled planning and construction firms," she said. In the meantime, BSJP partner Christian Schnell cites the submission of a new act on building law to Parliament, in addition to amendments to both bidding and appeals procedures, including express-appeal measures.
