CSOs embark on project inspection in Delta

From Paul Osuyi, Asaba

Representatives of Civil Society Organisations in Delta State have embarked on inspection of road projects being executed by the government across the 25 local government areas.
Commissioner for Works, James Augoye, who disclosed this in Asaba, yesterday, during a press briefing, said the groups were on an independent monitoring exercise to ascertain the quality of jobs being executed by the Ministry of Works.
Augoye urged contractors, handling various projects for the ministry, not to be frustrated by the multiple supervision of their jobs, insisting that the aim was to ensure projects were executed according to approved scope and specification.
Already, the ministry has three layers of job supervision, including the team of field engineers, ministry officials at the level of directors and the office of the commissioner.
Besides, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa recently constituted the project implementation, evaluation and monitoring team to further supervise jobs being executed by contractors in the state.
Augoye told journalists that some contractors were not cooperating with the monitoring teams, maintaining that the multiple supervision was not meant to witch-hunt any contractor but to add value to project delivery.
He warned that the state government would not tolerate any job shoddily executed, adding that severe sanctions await both contractors and ministry officials who collude to deliver poor jobs.
“We are appealing to contractors to ensure they cooperate with the teams. Whenever they are on site, they should obliged them with all necessary documents needed to ensure they carry out their inspection effectively.
“Our field engineers should provide the necessary documents such as drawings, designs and the like. This has become necessary because if the monitoring team which reports directly to the governor finds out that your job is not up to standard, certification will not be carried out, meaning that jobs done will not be certified for payment.”

“Field officers who refused to cooperate with the team would be sanctioned, we have a way of dealing with them. We will withdraw them from the field and bring them to the headquarters where they would be subjected to certain punishment.
“The management team of the ministry has decided to work closely with the monitoring team to ensure projects are done according to specification,” he said.
Augoye said the state government has extended the liability period from one year to two years to enable contractors effect repairs on failed portions of road which had already be certified and delivered.