NDDC Set To Complete 15-Floor Headquarters Complex

The Niger Delta Develop
ment Commission, NDDC, has stepped up efforts to complete the new 15-floor tower which would serve as its permanent headquarters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Inspecting the project last Friday, the Managing Director of the commission, Sir (Barr.) Bassey Dan-Abia, said that the office complex would be ready by the end of the year. He said that from what he saw at the project site and the assurances given to the NDDC by the major contractors, the end of year target was realistic.
The Managing Director, who was accompanied on the inspection by the Executive Director Projects, Engr. Tuoyo Omatsuli and other directors, stated that the days of indefinite contract duration was over and that no contractor working for the commission should expect to  get approval for variations after delaying the completion of projects.
He called attention to the new policy thrust of the NDDC, which he said was geared towards ensuring that deadlines were adhered to strictly.
“The message we are sending out is that to do business with us, contractors must change their attitude. There must be re-positioning and re-focusing on the part of everyone to key into the domesticated transformation agenda of the new NDDC, which is that jobs must be completed on schedule,” the MD said.
Barr. Dan-Abia said that the era of allowing indolent contractors to get away with all kinds of delay tactics were gone and gone for good. According to him, “everyone must sit up and key into the new ways of the new NDDC. So, you can see that the boat is moving fast and incompetent contractors will definitely be left behind.”
“It will not be in line with our new policy to sit in the office, which is only a few kilometres away from the project site and not come to monitor the progress of work here. If it were possible, I want to be here, at least once every month, until the project is delivered,” Dan-Abia said.
The project coordinator, Architect Felix Darko, assured the NDDC directors that they were working according to schedule and set standards. He said that the contractors involved in the project were determined to complete the multi-storey building on time as long as funds were available.
The NDDC team also inspected the construction of a permanent
complex for the Rivers State office along Olu Obasanjo Road
in  Port Harcourt. Since inception in 2,000, the interventionist agency has been operating from buildings rented from the Rivers State government.