Flood Delays Completion Of Ecological Projects — Official

The Ecological Fund Office (EFO) in the Presidency has attributed the delay in the completion of ecological projects to the 2012 flood disaster that ravaged some parts of the country.

‘’Actually last year’s flood affected those jobs grossly, especially as some of the project sites had been washed away. “So the contractors had to suspend the work,’’ said Mr Tolu Makinde, the EFO’s Deputy Director, Press. Makinde disclosed this to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday. The Tide recalls that the Federal Government had in 2012 awarded contracts worth N11.5 billion from its share of the Ecological Funds for the control of erosion in the South-East zone.

The 15 contracts covered Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo states. Makinde said the projects, which should have been commissioned in December, 2012, were affected by the floods.

He also said the contractors were not to blame for the delay in the completion of the contracts. He explained that the mode of payment for EFO contracts was in accordance with the amount of work done on the site.

‘’Let’s be fair to our contractors on this note. The delay in the contract execution is not from them. ‘’Our mode of payment is also in ‘pari passu’ with the amount of work done after the initial 15 per cent mobilisation fund. ‘’We are hoping that those jobs would be completed before the next rainy season,’’ he said. Makinde said that the federal ecological projects were not co-funded. According to him, the funding is directly from the Federal Government’s share of the Ecological Funds.