Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has finally
opened up on the underlying factors behind the stalling of work on the remolding
of the Asaba Airport, saying the contractor handling the project messed up the
job by performing far below par particularly regarding the pace of work.
Fielding questions at the quarterly parley with
journalists at the Government House Asaba on Monday, Okowa revealed that the
contractor clearly displayed unwillingness or incompetence in the execution of
the important infrastructure project.
He stated that the contract would be re-awarded to
another firm soon, stressing that the overall interest of the people of state
outweighs the reported friendship
between him and the chief executive of the defaulting construction firm.
According to him, “I don’t care if I step on any
toes. Unfortunately, his work remained very slow despite the pressure we put on
him, and having paid fully the 50 percent mobilisation agreed with the previous
administration.”
The Asaba Airport was conceived as international
airport when work on its construction began under the administration of Governor
Emmanuel Uduaghan, but it was downgraded in April 2015 by the Federal Aviation
Authority, the country’s aviation regulatory authorities, which cited several
deficiencies in its construction, including a substandard runway, high-gradient
surrounding hills and porosity of the facility due to lack of perimeter
fencing.
However, the contractor was forced to through in
the towel few days ago, giving a litany of reasons why ULO Consultants had to
hands off handling the project, but Okowa told journalists in Asaba yesterday that
the state government actually prompted the contractor’s action when it gave the
company a ‘Yellow Card’ in October 2017 as it was increasingly clear they would
not deliver the project.
The governor stressed that although fully mobilised
in line with the original terms of the contract to the tune of 50 percent, the level
of work on the airport remolding project by the indigenous contractor, ULO
Consultants Limited, had not really reached 25 percent nearly two years after
the project was mandated to have been completed and duly delivered.
The contractual agreement was for the contractor to
re-jig the airport to specifications as directed by the Nigerian FCAA at a cost
of about N5.01 billion with the work agreement stating that it would be
completed in four months.
Okowa noted that he did not consider funding as the
problem or cause of delay of completion of work as adequate loan facility was
duly secured for the upgrading of the airport by the state government last
year.
Explaining why the government awarded the contract
for the Asaba Airport upgrade, involving six aspects to ULO Consultants, the
governor said: “Funding was not the issue, and I regularly went to the airport
simply to ensure that the project was delivered in good time and for us to have
about the best airport in the country, but the pace of work remained very slow
in spite of the pressure we put on the contractor to complete the project
according to schedule.”
Getting it right is very important,” Okowa had
noted during an inspection visit to the airport in January, saying: “Airport is
not about the structure but about the runway; and we believe that when
completed, the airport will be among the best in the country based on standard.
It is not about the speed but getting it right, because if you get the slope or
gradient right in the first segment, you will get it right in the second and
third segments.”
Conducting the
governor round the facilities, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ULO
Consultants, Chief Uche L. Opkuno, had continued to express confidence that his
construction firm would eventually deliver a world-class airport at Asaba
especially with the installation of Instrument Landing System (ILS) almost
completed in January.
Okpuno had told journalists during the said visit when the
contractor said the project would be ready by the end of March next year that
“I believe that in the next eight weeks everything will be completed. The
rehabilitation work on the runway and taxiway is projected to end in March. All
things being equal, we should be able to finish work by March ending.”
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