Gov.’s Aide Harps On Work Specification

Road contractors in Delta State have been called upon to ensure speedy completion of their work and to specification.

Chief Felix Omel-Melenu, Senior Special Assistant to the Delta Governor on Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) made the appeal  at Obiarukwu, Ukwuani Local Government Area of the state.

Omel-Melenu, who was inspecting projects in the area, said that the era when contractors collected money and abandoned projects was over.

He said that Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan’s administration was desirous of ensuring the completion of all roads projects in record time because of the benefits of good roads to the economy of the state.

He said, “It is wrong for contractors to collect money for projects and fail to execute the project.

“It is even worse when communities are not aware that contracts for projects have been awarded in their area and keep blaming government for not performing.”

He said that most of the road contractors were working at a slow pace due to the rain, adding that he hoped contractors would mobilise fully to site when the rainy season was over.

The senior special assistant also appealed to communities where roads were being constructed in the state to show understanding as the projects would soon be completed.

He said that the essence of the visit was to assess the level of progress made on projects being executed by the NDDC.

He said that it was sad that some contractors had done so little to show that they were capable of executing road projects.

At Umukwata also in Delta, he commended the people of the community for their patience and determination to protect projects being executed in their area.

He assured them that no stone would be left unturned for Eziokpor/Umukwata road to be completed.

The Okpala-Uku of Umukwata, Chief Ossai Idu, through his spokesman, Chief Progress Asogu, said that the visit was the first of its kind where a government official came to assess the level of work done in the community.

He complained that for years, they had not seen or heard from the contractor handling the Eziokpor/Umukwata road project.

He assured the government that the community would continue to welcome development projects from government and would continue to protect and ensure that the contractor executed the project to specifications.

In the same vein, Omel-Melenu has urged local government councils to be aware of projects being executed in their area.

He gave the advice when he paid a courtesy visit on the Head of Personnel Management (HPM) of the Ukwuani Local Government Council, Mrs Blessing Bialonwu.

He said it is important for local government councils to be aware of these projects and play roles, no matter how little.

This he said was to ensure that contractors handling government projects in their areas carried out their functions effectively.