Raymond Ozoji, Awka

Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, Development Partners and Donor Agencies have expressed deep concern over abandoned projects in some schools they  visited for oversight functions.

Chairman of the committee and Deputy Minority Leader of the 7th legislature, Hon. Ejiofor Ebele Leonard, said more worrisome was that contractors handling projects visited were nowhere to be found even when they were duly notified through letters of the oversight visit.

He said that the outcome of the committee’s visit to some schools revealed that where donor agency assisted projects were sited had little or no work in progress even though contractors handling the said projects had been mobilised with funds.

Ejiofor noted that the level of work done as well as obvious abandonment of projects by contractors handling World Bank Assisted State Education Programme Investment Projects (SEPIP) in some secondary schools in the state was not a good omen and left much to be desired.

He said that the committee had invited  the state Commissioner for Basic Education, Professor kate Omenugha, and the contractors handling the construction of hostel blocks at Government Secondary School, Utuh, Nigeria Science and Technical College, Nnewi and Government Techincal College Nkpor, to appear before the Comittee to explain the delay despite the release of substantial amount of money for the public projects.

According to the Committee Chairman,  some of the contractors have not met government expectations as there is nothing on ground to justify the amount of funds released to the contractors even as he expressed dissatisfaction with the level of work done at Community Secondary school Nnobi and  government Secondary school Utuh.

He also frowned on the abandonment of about three hostel blocks for which government had released funds to the   contractors.

The committee however commended the level of work at Girls High School Alor in Idemili North local government area with less than 20% release.

He said that at Girls High School Alor, considerable work had been done on the fencing of the school compound. Cost of the project was  N9,568,750.00 while actual funds released was N1,871,301.01 and project status was 65%. The date of award was 12th February, 2018 and the expected date of completion was December 2018. The contractor handling the project according to him is Tecnous Concept.

The committee chairman said another project inspected was the fencing of Government Technical College Nkpor being handled by GWICE DYNAMIC LTD. He said he discovered that the project cost was N31,940,500.00 while funds released so far was N5,524,364,70. Project status according to him, was 50%. Date of award was 12th, February,2018 while expected date of completion was December, 2018.

Fencing of Government Technical College Utuh also being handled by GWICE DYNAMIC LTD was another project inspected by the committee on SDGs. The project cost from investigations was N19,999,750.00 while amount released so far was N13,941,675.57. The project status from the committee’s observation was 60% . Date of award was 12th February, 2018 and expected date of completion was 2018.

Also fencing of Nigerian Science and Technical School Nnewi handled by MOSES GOD’S OWN IND. LTD was amongst the project sites visited. Project cost was N29,162,000.00 while actual funds released was N21,718,398.46. The project status was 80%; date of award was 12th February,2018 and expected date of completion was December 2018.

The state assembly committee on SDGs further beamed its searchlight on the fencing of community secondary school Nnobi, where the project was said to have cost N34,250,000.00 and funds released were N7,459,482.18 and N4,567,221.00 respectively. Meanwhile, level of work done so far is 60%. Date of award was 12th, February,2018 and expected date of completion was December 2018 and contractor handling is EL-SANZ RESOURCES LTD.

Construction of hostel blocks at GTC Utuh and Nigerian Science and Technical College Nnewi were projects also inspected by the committee. Contractor handling the projects is ROADLIGHT INTL’ LTD. Project cost was N992,099,934.00. Amount released N458,869,540.53. Project status is 20%. Date of award was 9th October, 2018 while expected date of completion was April 2020.

The situation was not different from what the committee met on ground at GTC Nkpor where construction of hostel was on-going. Contractor handling the said project was TEETAG NIG LTD and cost of the project was N992,099,934.00 while actual funds released were N297,629,980.20 and N48,588,662.53 respectively. Date of award was 9th October, 2018 and the expected date of completion was April 2020. Project status is 40%.

From the foregoing, the chairman of the state assembly committee on SDGs observed that the expected date of completion of the projects had long expired in spite of the money released to the contractors. He said the development posed more dire situations for staff and students of the schools where the projects were situated. As a result, it became necessary that the state commissioner for Basic Education and contractors handling the projects mentioned appear before the committee to explain why the projects have not been completed and handed over to the benefiting schools.

In an interview, a teacher at Government Technical College, Nkpor,  Mr Ifenanyichukwu Afulukwe, said the school had complained officially to the state Ministry of  Basic Education that the contractor abandoned both the fencing and hostel contract despite collecting huge amount from the government.

The Principal of Government Technical College, Utuh, Mr Adolphos Okolie, also regretted the level of work done in the school and called on government to come to their rescue.

Another teacher at Nigeria Science and Technical  College, Nnewi, Mrs Eunice Nwachukwu, noted that the inability of the contractor to complete the hostel block had adversely affected  teaching and learning in the school.

The Committee also expressed concern that despite receiving an official letter about the oversight duty, non of the contractors showed up at the various project sites visited.

When contacted for her response on issues raised by the committee on SDGs, the Commissioner for Basic Education, Prof. Kate Azuka Omenugha, told NewsProbe that there were no projects abandoned in schools across the state.

Omenugha said, “Work is ongoing at GTC Onitsha, GTC Umuchu, GTC Umunze, GTC Umueri and other places. You can only call it abandoned projects if we leave office and we didn’t complete them.”