With the Delta State Executive Council constituted, and the first State Executive Council meeting in Governor Okowa’s second term in office, held on Tuesday 6thAugust 2019, all is now set for the government to hit the ground running in developing the State infrastructurally.
Through this assignment of infrastructural provision may not be new to the governor, as his sterling performance in this direction during his first term in office, has left no one in doubt that he is a man with a full grasp of governance and development.
This fact notwithstanding, the state and the entire nation, of course, have in case after cases witnessed government roll out people-purposed projects but were undermined by the contractors or government agency handling the projects. An act that has made both failed and abandoned government projects dots our political landscape. EDITORIAL:FELICITATION AND AGENDA FOR GOVERNOR OKOWA
While such occurrences may not have officially been reported in the state, it is not to suggest that poor handling of projects by contractors is not happening, And if the challenge existed in ‘overt and glaring forms among the past administrations in the state, it also happened in the hidden and subtle’ manner between 2015 and 2019. BE CAREFUL OF SYCOPHANTS – Ven. Ogoegbulem tells Okowa
The recent call by the residents of Owa-Nta Aliosimi Road in Boji-Boji, Owa, Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State on the Contractor handling the on-going road construction project at Owa-Nta Aliosimi road to stop using sub-standard materials and follow the Bill of Quantities (BoQ), as approved lends credence to this position. Also, the number of failed road projects in the state constructed in the last four years and legion of others abandoned supports this assertion.
This new awareness calls for more commitment towards ensuring that projects in the state are not only delivered within the record time but sustainable.
As we know, projects or development is said to be sustainable when they are achieved without excess environmental degradation, in a way that both protects the rights and opportunities of coming generations and contributes to compatible approaches.
To, therefore, guarantee good quality delivery of projects in the state, it is our views that the government pays disciplined attention to project monitoring and evaluation. It will not be a bad idea if the state government sees every project being executed by a contractor pass integrity test, certificate of completion before payment is made.
While this is ongoing, it will also be rewarding if the state government lay less enforces on the use of contractors and focus more on the use of direct labour.
Above all, for this administration to stamp its footstep on the sand of time this is the solution; considerations of a project location must be based on need as against political compensation.