TheCable

Nsima Ekere, managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has warned contractors of the commission that he will not tolerate indolence.

Ekere said this after inspecting the Port Harcourt headquarters of the commission, which is still under construction.

He wondered why it was taking such a long period to conclude the job, and promised that it will be ready for inauguration by President Muhammadu Buhari before the end of next year.

“I think it is sad that a project that started 20 years ago is yet to be completed and we are still talking about site inspection,” he said.

“A child that was born when this building started is almost through with university education by now.

“So, it’s very sad that we are inspecting a project 20 years after commencement. We will look at what the issues are, including contractor’s capacity to deliver on this project. This project must be completed on time and I will not condone non-performance by our contractors.”

Ekere said there was no sense in starting a lot of projects and completing only one.

He added that henceforth, all projects being executed by the commission would be covered by bank guarantees,

“I don’t believe that there is any sense in starting a thousand projects and completing only on,” he said.

“So, we will check the number of new projects and then concentrate on completing on-going ones. We want to complete our projects.

“Our legal department will prepare agreement performance guarantees and further payments for projects will be guided by such agreements.”

He added that the commission would set up a task force to ensure that projects are completed before targets.