Project Monitoring Committee Flays Construction Firm for Poor Job

Project Monitoring Committee Flays Construction Firm for Poor Job

EFFIONG EKPO

Members of the project monitoring unit, who paid unscheduled visit to the multi-billion naira Etebi Enwang-Esit Eket Road project, were startled to discover that the construction firm which is handling the project, SINOENG Limited, was doing little or nothing to justify the huge amount of money paid to it since 2007, even as local contractors are complaining of alleged extortion by government officials. And unless the Ministry of Works & Transport takes steps to clear itself from allegations of inappropriate demand for money by its officials, contractors handling road projects in Akwa Ibom State, especially the indigenous contractors as they are fondly called, may believe that the magnitude of money extorted from them by government officials has the backing of the Ministry.

The road project which contract was awarded in the early days of the present administration at the cost of five billion naira with a completion date of December 2009, has been going at snail speed that doubts the integrity and competence of the construction firm to handle the magnitude of work involved with the project. The team which had some Special Assistants to Governor Akpabio on projects, including Mr. Nse Ubeh, was shocked to discover that progress of work on the 23 km road project was terribly slow.

Niger Delta STANDARD gathered that apart from a few kilometres of stone base, and asphalt works on the road, the company was still in the process of preliminary clearing and top soil excavation. Explaining the cause of the slow pace of job, one Mr. Ataide, an engineer with the consultant handling the project, said that compensation was yet to be paid to the communities for the company to have its right of way. The Etebi-Enwang-Esit Eket road project which links three local government areas of Mbo, Esit Eket and Eket, has one of the longest bridges yet to be constructed by SINOENG Limited.

The contractors who are lamenting that the extraneous charges they were made to pay on routine basis by officials of the Ministry of Works and Transport and the governor's office, have impacted negatively on their ability to deliver good quality jobs timely. Apart from asking for spurious sums of monies in the name of inspection fees, logistics for project commissioning, entertainment for government officials, the 'shylock' officials have also been accused of collecting millions of naira ranging from N90 to N150 million as the case may be from local contractors to process their payment certificates, and levies to support the governor's wife pet project.

A project engineer with one of the construction firms, who pleaded anonymity, complained that 'the most annoying part of it is that these are your Nigerian brothers asking you for all these monies, and you wonder what they want to do with such monies. They don't go to Julius Berger or even Gitto. Their power is on us', he went further, 'even when we send our IPC to the Ministry of Works, they will delay it for more than two months without payment, but, let any of these foreign contractors send in their IPC, they get payment within three weeks. The other day people came from governor's office, and said we should give them money for this Akpabio's wife project. Is it life enhancement'?

On the quality of job done, he lamented, 'tomorrow people will blame the local contractors for poor work. Like this road now, the consultant that did the design and mapping did not provide for any alignment of the road. He just went to Ministry of Works, paid them money and dropped his papers, now we're doing a new design and mapping to fix the alignments and every other thing'. Efforts by our correspondent to get the Commissioner for Works and Transport to speak on the issue were not successful as his phone lines were not responding, even a visit to his office made no difference as the commissioner was not on seat.

But, two officials who were found on one of the project sites, denied claims made by the local contractors, when asked further questions they just waved and drove off. Niger Delta STANDARD gathered that some of the local contractors have to ask for overdrafts from their banks with high interest rates to pay officials in the project monitoring and account units of the ministry to get their payment processed.

Joint Account Cripples Akwa Ibom LGAs

The dwindling revenue accruing to the local government areas in Akwa Ibom state from the federation account has been crippled further by the joint account system being operated in the state. The joint account system which has been operating in the state since the inception of democracy in the state, started during the era of Governor Attah, and has been sustained by the present administration.

Our correspondent gathered that the joint account which was established by an act of the law, was meant to stem the practice where the salaries of staffers of the local government councils, teachers, and nurses in the councils were not paid for several months. During the era of Governor Attah, local government areas were run under the Parliamentary system of government and most expenditure of the councils were deducted from source as first line charges for the settlement of salaries and allowances of workers, traditional rulers, primary school teachers, and others.

Although the joint account system seemed to have succeeded during the Parliamentary system, but, under the Presidential system of government currently practiced in the local government councils, things have changed. The Presidential system currently practiced in the state is very expensive due to the numerous political appointees in the local system whose salaries and allowances have over bloated the wage bills of the councils. With the current economic reality, most local government councils cannot afford high wage bills, coupled with the fact under the joint account system, monthly allocation accruing to the councils were usually deducted by the state government with its attendant effect on the running of the councils which are facing serious financial crises.

A councilor in Uyo local government council, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that, 'when we came in June 2008, it was okay, it got better up till December and in the first two months of 2009, but it became worst since the last five months. To say it better, we're facing the worst situation. A situation where on paper you receive a monthly allocation of say N150 million, and you're faced with all manner of deductions, even disaster management and ecological management, and at the end of the day, what gets to the council is N35 million. What can you do in that circumstance'.

He went on, 'as it is now, there is nothing much the councils can do. The question now is, if we take the case of teachers' salaries, are we saying that teachers don't retire, or death does not even occur. So, how come the same amount of money is deducted yearly from teachers' salaries'?

Niger Delta STANDARD gathered that the situation in most local government councils is so terrible that political appointees and even elected officers are no longer going to their offices, as their salaries are hardly paid as when due. In some councils, chairmen and councilors are at loggerheads over unpaid allowances, and other entitlements.

Accountant-General Stuns Ibom Science Park Panel

The Akwa Ibom state House of Assembly panel investigating the moribund billion naira Ibom Science Park project was stunned when the Accountant-General, Mr. Udo Isobara, appeared before it claiming ignorance of the actual amount the state government paid to the contractors handling the controversial project.

In an argument which ensued after the Accountant-General testified before the ad-hoc committee, members of the panel were resented that the office of the Accountant General could not give accurate account of the state government expenditure, while the panel presented a figure of N5.8 billion, as the amount spent on the project, Mr. Isobara disclosed that available record with him indicated that the sum of N3.8 billion was released from his office for the project .

Apparently not satisfied with the submission made by the Accountant General, the Chairman of the committee, Hon. Usenobong Akpabio, stated that the panel was not out to witchhunt any person, rather was to find out how much resources of the state went into the project. Science and Technology Commissioner, Mr. Samuel Effanga, in his testimony, revealed that the original cost of the project was varied from the sum of N5.6 billion to N6.6 billion. He stated that his ministry at inception had hired Millennium Technology Limited to audit the extent of work that was done at the science park, and that he was still awaiting the audit report.

Niger Delta STANDARD gathered that the Ibom science park project was conceived by the Attah's administration as a pioneer science park in Nigeria to contribute to the technology development of the country, through production and marketing of technology products to a South African firm, SBT JUUL Africa in 2003 at the cost of N5.6 billion. The project which foundation laying ceremony was done by Nigeria's former President, Chief Obasanjo, was to be completed two years after, unfortunately, the billion naira project as at 2009, was yet to see the light of the day, even when N5.6 billion was allegedly spent by the previous government.