Minister of Works, Senator Nweze David Umahi, has called on contractors under the Federal Ministry of Works to brace up for the standard of work and delivery time frame required of them under the Renewed Hope administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Umahi gave the charge in a meeting with the directors of the Ministry and the contractors held at its headquarters in Mabushi, Abuja on Thursday. He said that going forward, contractors must take into account the plight of Nigerians and the Renewed Hope Initiatives on road infrastructure development in executing their projects. He maintained that the Ministry of Works means business and would not take excuses from contractors.
Umahi assured them that the ministry would consider the review of contracts previously consummated in line with set parameters and prevailing economic situations, and that all generated certificates would be verified and paid accordingly. He urged them to ensure that all issues of contract variations were brought to the notice of the relevant departments of the Ministry. The minister hailed President Tinubu for the prompt release of funds for palliatives works.
”The Bureau of Public Procurement has approved over 80 per cent of requests for palliative projects. Those who indicated interest in the palliative project should please come to the ministry to collect award letters and complete documentation. Mr. President has graciously released 50 per cent of funds on palliative work, and so he wants to see action in all the 36 states and Abuja,” he said.
He also announced the re-organisation of the supervision structure for the Special Projects across the nation and introduced a special mechanism for tracking of certificates generated by contractors. He expressed hope that each state of the federation would record not less than 150 kilometres of roads in the Federal roads network in the year 2024, in addition to the special road projects funded through different extra budgetary platforms.
Earlier in his remarks, the representative of the Permanent Secretary and Director Highway, Bridges and Design, Awosanya Onatuga, said the meeting of the directors and contractors with the minister was to take the task of performance that would help them move the Works sub-sector forward in accordance with the innovative plans of Federal Government under Mr. President.
