‘Non-release of N4.31b stalls ingawa-Dallaje project’

THE Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) has said that the non-release of N4.31 billion funding was responsible for the non- completion of the federal government Dallaje dam project in Katsina State.

  The Head of Planning Research and Statistics in the commission, Hajia Maryam Ilyasu Mohammed, who led a monitoring team to the North-west dropped the hint in Abuja during inspection.

  Other factors responsible for the delay of the Dam, she said, include the lack of effective project supervision, inadequate design and bills as well as equipment vandalization.
   The project, which was awarded in November 2009 with a completion period of 24 months, has only attained 50 per cent completion.

 A statement signed by the Head of Media in the Commission, Abdulganiyu Aminu, said that at the end of the physical verification exercise and meetings with the contracting firm of Hasseni Eng. Services, Hajia Maryam explained that the country can no longer afford the abandonment of such a very important project on flimsy excuses and non-adherence to due process in contract implementation and supervision.

  She said that the project was very vital to the life of the host community as it would boost irrigation farming as well as provide rural electricity to the people adding that all hands must be on deck to ensure the project was completed as soon as possible.

    Hajia Maryam, who represented the Acting Chairman of the Commission, Chief Victor Muruako, promised to take up the matter with the appropriate authority so as to ensure work is resumed on the project in order to accelerate project completion in line with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework.

    According to her, the supervising agency-the Sokoto-Rima-River Basin Development Authority and the client Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Water Resources need to meet and determine the way forward for early completion of the project.

  Responding, the Managing Director of Hasseni Engineering Services, Fahd Jammal, attributed his inability to meet the completion deadline to the redesigning of the relocation of the project site and inadequate funding of the project.

    He noted that his firm had difficulties in clearing imported materials for the projects at the ports. All these led to the delay in completion.

    He, however, appealed to the Federal Government to release funds to ensure speedy completion of the project.

    Culled from http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/business