‘How Bala constructed N3bn primary schools, others in one year’

The Projects Site engineer with the Bauchi state Universal Basic Education Board (SUBED), Bello has revealed that Governor Bala Mohammed has constructed new 270 primary/junior secondary school classrooms and renovated 405 others across 20 local government areas of the state.

Bello, who stated this on Tuesday, while inspecting projects executed by the present government in the state within its one year of assumption of office, said the projects gulped N3 billion.

The project site engineer while conducting journalists round one of the completed school projects at 1, 000 Housing Estate in Bauchi, disclosed that the projects were executed in partnership between SUBEB and the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEB) with N1.5 billion counterpart funding.

Bella also said 16 other special school projects were executed by the state government at a total cost of N500 million aimed at promoting the development of basic education.

Also, at Yelwa Practicing School, the Projects Engineer with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Mukhtar Musa, told the visiting team that the school established in 1931 was fully renovated and a solar-powered borehole sunk in its premises, which was also fenced.

Musa explained that 16 various projects across the state were either newly constructed or renovated under collaborative efforts between the state office of SDGs and the conditional grant scheme of the federal government with 50 per cent each counterpart funding.

He explained that the projects which were executed in hard-to-reach areas of the state included the provision of equipment, furniture, as well as teaching and learning materials.

The media team also inspected the 6.2km Sabon Kaura-Jos road bye pass where the Permanent Secretary in the state Ministry of Works, Stephen Abubakar, said the project being executed at a cost of N2.2billion has reached 85 per cent completion.

At the state Water Treatment Plant at the Gubi Dam site where rehabilitation and expansion programmes are being undertaken, visiting journalists were told by the Project Engineer. Abdulmumini Mailafia that work on the projects are going according to specification.

Mailafia said both the rehabilitation works on the existing system that provides 45 million litres and the expansion programme that will provide 75 million litres of clean water to Bauchi metropolis and environs have reached appreciable stages of completion

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Also speaking, acting project manager of LUTECH PRATIBHA JV Construction Company, an Indian company, undertaking the expansion works, Mr. Nanda Kumar said the company undertakes both the rehabilitation and expansion programmes of the project.

Kumar said: “In the rehabilitation of the treatment plant, we are increasing the capacity from 37, 000 cubic meters per day to 45, 000 cubic meters per day. And we are expanding the project from 45, 000 cubic meters per day to 75, 000 cubic meters per day.”

He explained that both the rehabilitation and expansion works are going smoothly, as the projects are expected to be completed by June this year, but expressed hope that there will be some extension on the scheduled period.

Mr. Kumar revealed that the rehabilitation is almost 60 per cent completion while the expansion reaches 50 per cent completion, disclosing further that the company will rehabilitate the old sub-station, as well as building a new one at the site.