When this particular country was settled most who first arrived there set up their homes, governments and business in towns adjacent to each other along the coastline. One of them would eventually become the capital of the nation. The interior of the country was sparsely inhabited.
As decades past and its population grew the capital town turned into a city. Vast numbers of people crowded into it. The original settled areas had fine homes while the adjacent areas became slums full of one floor shacks where the poor folk resided on crowded streets with the barest minimum of amenities scraping out an existence. The life expectancy between the two areas exceeded fifteen years.
The government was not indifferent to their plight. Much was done to try to remedy their poverty but nothing seemed to help. The slum dwellers population grew by leaps and bounds making attempts to better their lives futile. One year those in charge of the country, almost all from the original settled areas, decided the way out of the mess was to take advantage of the other parts of the country far from the shoreline.
They decided to move the capital of the country inland hundreds of miles to a new city that would be called Blîss. They would build Blîss and control the manner in which it was to be settled.
The government set up the Commission on the New Capital (CNC). It hired two construction firms to do the work: Mäla Compañía and Dobré Familia. A time table was set for the completion of the first phase. An architect’s plan for the approximate location of the new buildings and residences was created. Each company was assigned the buildings they would construct.
Mäla put up almost four times as many structures as Dobré in the first two years. The CNC began to be inundated with complaints from all the legislators and those in higher office to speed up the project. Demand was made to replace Dobré. An investigation was launched into the reasons for the the stark differences in outcomes. Tons of paperwork and hundreds of people were involved. It was completed in the 18 months allotted for it.
When all the unnecessary parts of their reports were stripped away the difference came down to Dobré had hired the best engineers, construction designers and builders, used the finest materials available, built on properly prepared sites, and had little turnover in personnel. On the other hand Mäla bought the most available and often least expensive materials, built on sites that were convenient, spent little time in preparing them, and hired those willing to work at below market salaries, and unlike Dobré had no quality control.
It was nearing the four year mark since the project began. It was less than two years from the date set for the transition from the coast to the inland capital. The CNC decided after the review to revoke Dobré’s contract and turn the whole job over to Mäla.
The date set for the move came and passed. Many years later the move had not taken place. There was a slight problem. The buildings Mäla constructed were never deemed fit for habitation as being built with shoddy materials on land that was not prepared. There was no way to fix them.
However, all was not lost. Tours are offered for folks to visit Blîss. The Dobré buildings are still standing. Where Mäla buildings once stood there is only rubble.
An apt parable.