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The Minister of Works, Eng Dave Umahi, has been advised to engage the services of independent experts to supervise various ongoing federal government road projects to ensure standard work delivery.
Eng Nick Uzonsi, a highway road expert and former Chairman of Ụdị Local Government Area of Enugu State, stated this in Enugu on Friday while reacting to observations made by Eng Umahi that contractors execute federal roads awarded to them below specifications. Umahi had bemaoned the poor quality jobs being executed along Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway.
According to him, “There should be an independent body or agency to be supervising these jobs to ensure quality job delivery. The Ministry of Works has a unit called Pavement Evaluation Unit. It is their duty to supervise road construction, but because they are civil servants, they are influenced to compromise.
“During the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, the then Minister Onolememe constituted an independent body which I was a member. Our duty was to supervise road constructions and report back to the minister. Some of these contractors would want to offer us bribe, but we refused. That is why most roads then were constructed according to specifications.”
Ozonsi further made a case for Umahi to engage the services of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria, adding that “certified engineers are being shortchanged in Nigeria.”
Also speaking, a COREN-certified engineer, Mr Clifford Osadebe, said, “Nigerian engineers are doing well. Many of them are COREN-certified, and they know their jobs. The problem is with the procurement processes. There are stages. We have the pre-qualification, tendering, and execution. But those concerned bypass these processes to award contracts to their mistresses and cronies.
“Those that award the contracts are meant to supervise the execution. They won’t be objective, hence giving room for poor contract execution. I advise the government, both at the state and federal levels, to establish an independent body to be oversighting these roads under construction. The Enugu-Port-Harcourt expressway took former President Shehu Shagari three years to construct, unfortunately, its repair has been on for about twenty years.”
He also called for the blacklisting and sanctioning of contractors that engage in sharp practices to serve as a deterrent to others.
