c) Although the need for facilities in the Free State was identified in the 1990's, tenders for their construction were awarded up to 13 years later. During 1997-98, a needs determination was done for some of the infrastructure projects and consultants were appointed to draw up plans for the projects. However, due to the magnitude of the projects, it was later decided to divide them into phases. No evidence could be submitted that the needs for the various phases were reassessed or that amendments to the original plans were made to ensure that they were still relevant and incorporated new infrastructure technology