PMDE cautions contractors against delivery of substandard jobs

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State Government has warned contractors handling its various infrastructure projects across the state to be thorough, saying that it will not accept any substandard jobs.

The Chairman of the Directorate for Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Mr Ebiye Tarabina, stated this on Monday while inspecting ongoing projects in the state.

According to him, the projects were designed to comply with the highest standards specified in their contracts.

Tarabina urged contractors handling the state government’s projects to execute their contracts according to standards and specifications, noting that the directorate would not hesitate to wield the big stick against any erring contractor.

He added that the time of contractors cutting corners only to deliver substandard jobs was over.

Tarabina added that the directorate would spare no effort in ensuring that contractors keep to their contractual agreements.

The chairman, who noted that Gov. Douye Diri remained committed to the completion of all ongoing projects on schedule, urged contractors handling the various projects to speed up action on them.

He declared that the projects embarked upon were aimed at upgrading social facilities in Bayelsa to align the state with the league of cities with world class infrastructure, thus making Bayelsa comparable with other developed states.

Tarabina also noted that the gains of the investments being made by the present administration in the provisions of critical infrastructure would soon be positively felt on a large scale in all sectors.

He commended the firm handling the Yenagoa-Oporoma road project for the speed of work, adding that the project is strategic and upon completion, would lead to the accelerated development of the state.

He said: “The road will link Yenagoa to Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, the largest of the eight LGAs which can only be accessed through the waterways by boats.”

Responding at the project site, an indigene of Oporoma community, Mr Daniel Brazil, stated that the project would impact positively on the socio-economic status of the Oporoma community and Southern Ijaw LGA at large.

He praised the Diri’s efforts in funding the project and expressed his appreciation to the chairman of the directorate for the inspection tour of the project to ensure compliance by contractors.

Projects inspected include the Nembe Unity Bridge; the Bayelsa Media Complex, Ekeki; the Igbogene-Tombia Road and the Yenagoa-Oporoma Road.

The chairman was accompanied on the inspection tour by engineers from the directorate, heads of departments, newsmen and support staff of the directorate.