Imported User:
Worried by the incessant vandalisation and destruction of its projects, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has called for help to stem the trend.
To this end, the commission yesterday held a one-day stakeholders’ forum, through the presidential monitoring committee (PMC) in Port Harcourt, where it solicited for the support of benefitting local governments and communities on NDDC projects.
In a communiqué issued at the end of the stakeholders’ meeting, the affected local governments and communities were directed to shoulder the post-completion management, staffing, maintenance, and security of such projects.
As a way of ensuring that the decision was carried out, the forum recommended interaction between the commission and benefitting communities in determining the relevance and location of proposed projects through town hall meetings.
Furthermore, the NDDC, it added, should liaise with the relevant states and local governments at the conception of such projects to avoid duplication while urging the commission to prioritise the completion of abandoned projects across the region.
The communiqué, signed by the acting Chairman of PMC, Professor Richard King and Dr. Christian Oboh, NDDC managing director called for the sanctioning of defaulting contractors and consultants over sub-standard jobs and project abandonment.
While asking the commission to engage competent and qualified contractors for the execution of its projects, the forum advised NDDC to support water transportation in the region.
But, before any mega project is carried out, the communiqué said there was the need for feasibility study and environmental impact assessment to be carried out to avert any danger.
