Monday 21 May 2012

Power projects on hold

The National Assembly Joint Committee on Power has ordered that work on two electricity projects in Rivers State, under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), be put on hold.

Members of the committee, led by Philips Aduda, expressed dissatisfaction with the pace and quality of work on the projects going on in Eneka and Oyigbo in the oil-rich state, as handled by Strabek Engineering Services Limited.


Pics:googleimage

They also expressed surprise that refurbished transformers, not new ones, were mounted for the power project.

Speaking with journalists after the inspection, Aduda announced that work at the affected sites would stop until experts carry out a proper verification exercise on the transformers supplied to the contractors.

“As we are looking at this project, I want to say that we are dissatisfied with it and we have asked the contractor to stop work forthwith because there is a lot of defects as you can see,” Aduda said. “We will call the contractor and look at the project again with a view to ensuring that the proper thing is done. In the power sector, we have had various problems and the committees will stop at nothing to ensure that power projects are carried out with the level of seriousness they need.”

This, he said, is the only way Nigerians can begin to enjoy regular power supply. “You can see for yourselves the defects in the structural works at the project sites,” he added.

Managing Director of the contracting firm, Nelson Chima, however, said that work on the projects were still ongoing, so modifications and corrections could always be effected, adding that the company was handling five projects under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) at a contract value of N1.8 billion, whereas it had been mobilised with only N300 million.
Culled:dailytimesnigeria

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