Outrightly dissatisfied with the standard of work done on some rural feeder roads, the Adamawa State House of Assembly Standing Committee on Rural Infrastructure and Community Development has queried a Chinese construction company handling the rehabilitation of some rural roads in the state.
The House Committee which was furious about the nature of work so far done on some of the roads, however summoned the construction company, Chinese Zhangwou to appear before it on Monday to explain reasons behind executing the work below standard.
According to the committee, there is no reason why the company will collect huge amount of money from the state government through Rural Access and Mobility Projects (RAMP II), yet could not execute projects to the satisfaction of the benefitting communities.
The Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Alhassan Hammanjoda (Ganye Constituency) stated this while leading other members of the Committee including: Hon. Abdullahi Umar Yapak (Verre), Hon. Japheth Kefas(Gombi), Hon.Shu’aibu Babas(Fufore Gurin) and Alh. Audu Buba, the Secretary of the Committee on an assessment tour today.
Hon. Hammanjoda disclosed that his Committee is not satisfied with the work done most especially some of the culverts constructed on Kola-Boshikiri in Guyuk, Shelleng-Bakta in Shelling, Toungo-Kiri in Toungo and Langa ewa-Wuro Abba -Wuro Yombe in Jada LGA.
He added that it appears the contractor is not serious enough to the contract awarded to his company, saying something urgent must be done to rectify it or else the company will incur the wrath of the house.
The Chairman pointed out that they had written to the Contractor that the House Committee will be inspecting the projects, but he was no where to be found which is a clear indication that he is not serious about his job.
According to him, the contract sum was paid to the Contractor about 3 months ago only for the company to commence work last week, saying that henceforth such contracts will be awarded to indigenous contractors.
Baring his mind, Hon. Abdullahi Umar Yapak (Verre) stated that the expectations of the citizens on the Members are very high and that they cannot afford to fail them in their representation, saying that they will not support anything that will not benefit their constituents.
Hon. Yapak called on both RAMP II and the Consultants to execute the work base on specification, pointing out that the Committee will be revisiting the site in the next 3 months and that if it discover that the work is not up standard, they will ask the government to revoke the contract.
According to him, they are the voice of the voiceless and they must speak on their behalf, insisting that the contractor must appear before the House Committee on Monday or take serious action against him.
On his part, Hon. Japheth Kefas( Gombi) expressed dissatisfaction with the work, saying that some of the culverts are not up to their expectations and that it will not benefit their people.
Hon. Kefas asserted that the Members are peoples’ representatives and cannot betray them, saying that they cannot tolerate or condone any work that is not up to standard.
Responding, the Consultant, Eng. Emmanuel W. Gadzama revealed that their major challenge in carrying out the project is communication gap, saying that they do not have access to the contractor.
Eng.h Gadzama told the Committee that they will not blame the government because there are requirements for each contract to be awarded, adding that during submission, the company met the standard, but when it comes to execution, it was different story all together.
(NEWS PLATFORM with Jonathan Filibus)