The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has appealed to the contractors handling transmission projects for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) and Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPCH) projects across the country to go back to sites and ensure speedy completion of the projects, as he promised all their complaints would be resolved within a reasonable time frame.
The minister made this appeal at a meeting with contractors in Abuja, and further disclosed that the purpose of the meeting was to share the concerns of the contractors handling various transmission projects with a view to assisting them in solving the problems they are facing in executing them and also to ensure their timely completion.
Fashola, further revealed that the meeting was also to ensure that those who abandoned their projects are immediately mobilized to go back to sites.
The Minister also received briefing from the representative of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), on the status of their projects such as issues on evacuation on the Eastern axis, Alaoji- Ikot Ekpene 300KVA double circuit line, and the Switching Station at Ikot Ekpene. The Minister also received status report of the various on-going TCN projects across the country.
The Minister and the contractors have agreed on the following:
· A submission of a list of projects that have 70% and above completion status, but for which provisions were not made in the 2016 budget approved for TCN, to his office.
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· A list of contractors who have assured the meeting about the completion of their projects before the end of 2016 and relevant information about their projects.
· A list of contractors who have completed and handed over projects and details of such projects but are yet to be paid;
· Contractors that have their companies stocked at the ports which have attracted accumulated port charges, Government will intervene but the responsibility of moving out the cargoes from the ports would be done by owners of such containers; and
· The need for the contractors to look in-ward in making use of local contents of products being manufactured in Nigeria such as Transmission towers clamps and cables etc. as long as they meet the required standards and specifications.
· All contractors that have unique issues to urgently meet with the management of TCN and make available details of such issues and furnish the office of the Minister with relevant information
Responding, the Group President, Skipper Nigeria, Jitender Sachdeva, who spoke on behalf of the contractors, commended the Minister ,for reconvening the meeting, as the outcome will lead to increased power generation in Nigeria, thus it would create employment opportunities for the teeming youth.
Sachdeva said that, the administration of President Buhari is committed to increased power generation through the completion of transmission projects across Nigeria as power produced not evacuated would become useless, hence the group assured him that the increased power which will lead to improved supply in the country.
Ibrahim Haruna
AD Press
