ARAN To Build Capacity, Develop Rivers – BoPP

The Rivers State Bureau on Public Procurement (BoPP) says the newly acquired Automatic Road Analyser (ARAN) Vehicles are meant to encourage capacity building amongst contractors and ensure the overall development of the state.
Director-General of the BoPP, Mr. Franklin Nlerum, in a press chat yesterday with newsmen in Port Harcourt said though the ARAN programme has come under stringent attacks, the body will not be deterred to do the right thing.
He explained that posterity will vindicate the agency for acquiring the equipment, disclosing that, “the two automatic road analysers we have are the 99 and 100 around the world…the equipment will be sure way of helping our country. It does not expire. It only requires maintenance”.
Nlerum argued that many people do not know that though the agency is purely regulatory, Section 50, Subsection 3 of the law establishing BoPP empowers it to carry out monitoring ,especially in building capacity of contractors to deliver quality jobs.
His words, “Section 50, Subsection 3 empowers the body to ask a contractor to go back to site in the case of sub standard work executed”.
He added, “that we regulate does not mean we cannot procure. We don’t award contract but we can reject a contract if the contractor does not have the capacity.
“I do not dispute that the vehicles should have been bought by the Ministry of Works, but we also need it for capacity. The Ministry of Works supervises, the only thing we do is monitor. Our Engineering team go to site periodically just to monitor. We need to know the capacity of the builder and also know the time of delivery”, Nlerum insists.
The Rivers Due Process boss said the state Governor, Chibuike Amaechi should be lauded for setting up the agency, pointing out that many states do not have such body to monitor projects.
“Public procurement is very critical to good governance. I believe that the problem of Nigeria goes beyond corruption to capacity. So, if we have to grow as a country, we have to take procurement seriously,” he said.
Nlerum disclosed that the governor has shown patience even during challenging periods when the agency had to take time to scrutinize project proposals, stating that it was better to have delay than to execute shoddy contracts.
One benefit of the outfit, he further stated that it helps government to save money and ensure value for all monies spent on projects.
“We go beyond monitoring procurement, but Public Procurement follows due process and the substantive outcome which is very critical,” he emphasized.
On why the agency is not making its reports public, Nlerum said there was nothing to hide since all activities of BoPP are ready for public consumption on request.