By Emmanuella Oghenetega
The Federal Ministry of Works with MTN and RCC Company Nig Ltd has held a meeting over the slow funding and execution of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway by MTN under the Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment (Tax Credit) Scheme.
The meeting which took place at the Ministry’s headquarters, Mabushi-Abuja, had the following resolutions:
1 – The construction of Enugu-Onisha dual-carriageway must be completed by 10th May 2026.
2 – MTN shall be held responsible should the road fail after construction on account of shawdy job by the contractor.
3 – There will be no variation or VOP on the project and RCC must note that going forward, the operation of VOP in their projects must be in accordance with the procedure contained in the Conditions of Contract and not at the whims and caprices of the contractor.
4 – MTN not to sacrifice their responsibility of funding the project at the altar of MTN’s business profit as this will wittingly or unwittingly inhibit speedy delivery of the project and inpune on the public perception of the will of government to ensure logical completion of the project.
5 – There must be a commitment in writing between MTN and the Federal Ministry of Works that this offer is predicated on these conditions herein set out. There must be a commitment because the more the job delays, the more there is variation.
Speaking at the meeting, which had in attendance, the Minister of State for Works, Mohammad Bello Goronyo, the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. O.O Adebiyi, the representatives of MTN, the Managing Director of RCC Company Nig Ltd and his team, the Minister of Works, Engr. Nweze David Umahi, reiterated that the Federal Ministry of Works is unwavering in its commitment towards ensuring that the contractor handling the project, and in this case MTN that is handling the project under the Tax Credit Scheme is made to ensure quality and speedy delivery of the project.
In a statement signed by Orji Uchenna Orji, Special Adviser (Media), it was disclosed, that at the meeting, Umahi wondered why an official of MTN could go on his way to insinuate that the directive made by the Federal Ministry of Works that RCC Ltd should stop using materials that could derail the quality outcome of the job amounted to a sabotage of the projects of Mr. President in South East.
He said,: “We have to put the records straight that this ministry has the responsibility to ensure quality delivery of work by contractors. And the contractor in this case is MTN”.
He recounted the various inspection visits he made to contractors’ project sites and how this had caused them to brace up for ensuring quality and speed in project delivery.
Speaking on the MTN’s Enugu-Onitsha Expressway project, he said, “We went through what MTN was doing, we discovered that they were using peeled sand to do the job. I’m an engineer. I’m not a history graduate. I’m a fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, and I’ve spent all my life in the field. And we gave a directive, which is in line with the general conditions of contract, that should stop using such sand but go back, and use river sand, which we paid for.”
The Minister emphasized the need for RCC Nig Ltd to play by the rule in project variation. He decried as unacceptable a situation where RCC could do a job of N38 billion and demand for a VOP N14 billion.
He stated, that going forward such indulgence by contractors in the name of inflation would not be tolerated.
He used the medium to call on the manufacturers of cement, which is a key element in the construction industry, especially on the use of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement, to please reduce the cost of cement to N7,000 as the price of dollar has drastically reduced, the cost of petrol is coming down and efforts are being made by Mr. President to fix the road.
He said, “I’m happy that the policies of Mr. President, are working. Today, a dollar is about N1,400. And let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement. Our contractors have called and complained that they wanted to move back to asphalt.
“We are using this medium to tell the cement manufacturers that at the time, the dollar was almost N2,000, they increased cement from N7,500. Why should today that the President has brought dollar to stability to about N1400, and is still going down, why should cement be selling for N9,500? We are requesting cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of cement to N7,000. If after one week they don’t do that, I have to complain officially to Mr. President.”
In their remarks, the Minister of State for Works and the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Works extolled the stance of the Federal Ministry of Works on the policies that would not only fast track job execution but also guarantee value for money and quality project outcome.
They urged the contractor to cooperate with the new paradigm under the Renewed Hope administration and work towards delivering the Enugu-Onisha dual-carriageway on a record time so that Mr. President could commission it for public use. The representative of MTN in his vote of thanks expressed the readiness of MTN in working towards realizing the delivery of the project within the agreed timeline.
Interesting