LIMPOPO MEC for local government and housing Soviet Lekganyane has adopted a no-nonsense approach to sloppy developers who abandonprojects.

LIMPOPO MEC for local government and housing Soviet Lekganyane has adopted a no-nonsense approach to sloppy developers who abandonprojects.

Estimates by the department revealed yesterday that between 10000 and 12000 RDP houses had been left incomplete in Limpopo by developers since 1994.

But that is about to change after the introduction of an aggressive new policy called "Win-Win".

"The policy requires developers to go into an agreement with the department before a project is awarded to them," department spokesperson Clyson Monyela said yesterday.

"This means that developers' backgrounds and track-records will be checked."

Monyela said the policy also requires developers who would be building more than 500 houses to provide an upfront guarantee of money before they start with the project.

"The money is not transferable, negotiable or irrevocable. In the event of a contractor failing to deliver the department woill claim the guarantee and appoint another contractor to complete the project," he said.

Addressing a meeting of contractors, Lekganyane said his department would not work with people whose actions were impeding the programme to build houses.

He said the new policy was a quality control measure that allowed the department to pay 95percent of the claim after completion of a housing project.

He said the remaining 5percent would be held by the department for six months, during which time the project managers would thoroughly inspect the houses for quality and possible defects.

Lekganyane said the new policy was a "win-win" situation since it minimised the risk and enabled the department to recover any possible loss during and after construction.

The department had begun the process of completing the houses in limbo since the 2007-08 financial year and about 90000 houses had already been completed.