South East: Contractors must complete any project paid for – Umahi

By Ukpono Ukpong

Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, vowed to compel contractors to do all the jobs they have been paid for, irrespective of their connections to people in position of power.

Sen. Umahi gave the warning yesterday while briefing journalists in Abuja.

He said that while he keeps no enemy, he does not have any friend whose interests will be placed above national interest.

He noted that he would embark on projects tour in the South East Region to ascertain the number of projects that have been abandoned after contracts were awarded and paid for.

“I will not place the interest of anybody above the interest of God, because the interest of God is the interest of the people and that is why I am poised to work in line with the renewed hope agenda of Mr. President.” Said Umahi

While he acknowledged that a lot of work is not going on in the South East, he disclosed plans to embark on inspection of all the abandoned projects within that region.

He further vowed that whoever has received money for a bad job or an undone job will be compelled to go back and do what he has been paid for.

He challenged those who were threatening to go to court to do so because the Ministry had not done anything outside the limits of the law.

He said the Ministry has always engaged its contractors in agreement with the general condition of contracts, which is the standard that all engineers are expected to abide by.

In a related development, the Minister had held a meeting with Forty Six (46) contractors handling road projects in the South East Region and Four ( 4 ) contractors from the North East over the weekend .

Umahi maintained that under his watch, road construction starting from design and actual construction must meet up with the requirement processes for it to be done right.

“We will get it right, the time to do good job is here, if you were doing bad job before, this period is not for you. Every 24 hours I work must be characterized with good and acceptable construction that will last”.