…assures rewards, more contracts for outstanding performance

Enugu State governor, Dr. Peter Mbah, has enjoined contractors executing the ongoing 260 Smart Green Schools as well as the 260 Type-2 Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) across the state to double down on their efforts in order to deliver within the timelines given to them for the completion of the projects.

The governor, who assured that his administration was already setting up mechanism for the rewards and recognition of contractors who had distinguished themselves in terms of quality and speedy delivery of their projects, also promised that more contracts would be awarded to them for their capacity and commitment.

Governor Mbah made the call and disclosed the reward arrangement on Thursday in Enugu during a stakeholder’s engagement with all the contractors handling the projects, saying the state government would not condone delay or lateness in the delivery timelines of all the projects.

While speaking with the contractors who attended the meeting in their numbers, the governor said the delivery timelines were sacrosanct as the government was not owing any of the contractors handling the projects.

He expressed dissatisfaction with some of the contractors who blamed the rainy season, rough topography, shortage of manpower and logistics constraints as some of the challenges that resulted in their delays, directing them to source for more hands in order to meet the delivery dates.

According to him, the state government had already earmarked enough funds for all the projects, assuring that payments would continue to be made at the right time to contractors.

“Let me once again reiterate that you have our support, and we’ll continue to make funds available to you. Once you are able to raise your certificate, you will be paid within five days because we’ve no reason to hold on to your money. So, for us money is not a problem. We gave you these projects because you have the capacity to deliver,” he said.

Mbah explained that his administration had previously intervened in areas of variation of costs because of inflation, stressing that such intervention was designed to serve as motivation for quality job and speedy delivery.

He, however, warned that the administration would not entertain sabotage, cost overruns and time overruns as all contractors were fully mobilized except those having issues with their advance payment guarantee who were paid as soon as they rectified it.

The governor further maintained that the most important focus of the administration was to ensure that all children in the state, including those living in remote and rural areas had access to the type of education any child could be exposed to in the world that would equip them for the future challenges.

He added that the PHCs, which should be delivered before the end of December 2024, were carefully conceived to eliminate infant and maternal as well as under-five mortalities, which he described as unacceptable.

On their parts, contractors working across the senatorial districts commended the governor for promoting local contents, saying that the initiative had created thousands of both skilled and unskilled jobs in the private sector.

Speaking on behalf of the contractors, Engr. Chukwudi Nwankwo and Mr. Steve Oruruo pledged that they would deliver in time, even as they underscored that some of them were already at the the completion stage.

They extolled the governor for making funds available to them, insisting that they had no excuse not to honour their own terms of the contracts by delivering on the agreed dates.