By Dele Ogbodo
The Minister of State, Federal Ministry of Works, HMSW, Mohammed Bello Goronyo, has charged the Managing Director/CEO of Federal Emergency and Roads Maintenance Agency, (FERMA), Dr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi, to warn contractors who fail to deliver on their contract awards to desist.
He reiterated that the era of abandoning projects is over, stressing that contracts are awarded and paid through the tax payers money who desire value for their money.
The list of defaulting contractors must be made available to the Headquarters not later than next week, he added.
Moving forward, Goronyo, proposed the need for a strong technical committee that will crisscross the country to monitor FERMA projects with a view to ascertaining the quality of their deliveries.
The Minister made these remarks on Monday 2nd November, 2024, during his familiarisation tour of the South-west section of FERMA, where the State Coordinators made presentations before the HMSW on the progress, challenges and expectations in the cause of the discharge of their duties.
The Director, Press and Public Relations, in the Ministry, Mr. Mohammed Ahmed, in a statement said the Minister however, commended the Federal Road Management Engineers, from the South-west States, assuring them that issues raised will be looked into to make FERMA deliver optimally.
He was quick to add that though the challenges are real, huge and enormous, they are not insurmountable. “The country must tighten up its belt and combat the challenges frontally.
“We have been drawing from a well without water for so long. We now have a President who is willing to face the challenges head on without complaining. We must be ready to support one another and do things differently.
“We must all support President Bola Tinubu to deliver on his mandate.” He remarked.
The HMSW pledged to pay unscheduled visits to contract sites to have a firsthand knowledge of the commitment of contractors to projects, while also assuring that Staff Welfare is a paramount issue of concern which will not be toyed with.