By Ameachi Prosper
Delta State government has vowed to sanction the contracting firm handling the
N1.5 billion Ikpide-Irri road project, in Isoko South Local Government Area of the state over poor execution of the project.
Decrying the shoddy job done by the firm, Portplus Nigerian Ltd, the Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoye, warned that except the job is done according to specifications, the ministry would not issue a certificate of completion.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa had in 2017 awarded the contract amid criticism by stakeholders over the capability of the contractor said to be an elder brother of the ex-President-General of the community, Michael Omojefe.
Augoye disclosed that series of complaints have trailed the Ikpide-Irri road project saying, “the Ikpide-Irri road project has been a long standing issue. The Projects Implementation, Evaluation and Monitoring team was there, I have personally visited the project when the heat was high and I have held several meetings with the contractor to ensure that the road is executed according to the designs and specifications and the contractor assured me severally to deliver a good job.
“The job will be executed to specification and standard because those in Bayelsa State will see the job and be able to admire what we are doing. The job is a rigid concrete pavement and it should stand the test of time. If we do not get it right in that very project that means it will not stand. I want to assure the people of Ikpide-Irri that we want to stand by our position to ensure that job is completed according to specifications and standard.
Augoye warned officials of the state government who may be conniving with contractors on the poor execution of road projects, adding that the Okowa-led government would no longer tolerate shoddy jobs as no certificate of completion will be issued to any contractor for such projects.
“The Ministry of Works will not tolerate a situation where field, zonal officers, the monitoring and evaluation team will attest to shoddy road construction that failed the true test of the specification. Such jobs will not be certificated, and such officers will face stiff sanctions.
“We hear that contractors are saying whether their jobs are done to specification or not they will still get payment. Not with the Ministry of Works… any contractor that does not work according to specification and does not comply with the Delta State Projects Implementation, Evaluation and Monitoring team, our field engineers will not have his job certified for payment.”
