The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has urged contractors handling federal road projects to ensure delivery of quality and durable jobs.
Fashola gave the charge on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with contractors handling federal road projects across the nation.
He appealed to the contractors to ensure that their completed jobs conformed with international standards, as anything below standard would not be acceptable to the Federal Government.
“All of us must work together to build our roads as quickly as possible because we don’t have much time on our side.
“I appeal that you build to the standard that you would have built in your own countries.
“You should finish to the standard that you would have finished in your countries. When you complete any road, you are actually helping to build our economy.
“So, if it is not good enough for your countries, it won’t be good enough for Nigerians.
Fashola also charged the contractors to ensure prudent application of the funds to help open up the economy by restoring lost jobs and creating new employment opportunities for the people.
He explained that the key focus of the ministry was “to return the economy to growth by creating jobs, especially in the construction and its ancillary chains’’.
“We hope that when we disburse this money, it would go right to where it should go. It should go right back to work to provide jobs for our people.
“We need to know the number of people you are likely to recall to work and the number of people employed on your various sites.
Fashola urged the contractors to ensure the provision of adequate safety equipment to protect their workers, because according to him, “construction that loses lives is not worth it. It diminishes all of us.’’
He pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to continue sourcing for resources to deliver some appreciable progress to Nigerians before the end of the year.
Responding, Mr Nasiru Dantata, the Executive Director, Dantata and Sawoe Construction Company Limited, noted that the ministry had given assurance that funds would soon be released to service priority road projects.
He gave the assurance that as soon as the funds were made available, his firm would not only re-absorb retrenched workers, but would also hire fresh hands to beef up the number.
“We have assured the ministry of our readiness to go back to site. Many of us have already remobilised to several sites.
“We also assure the ministry and Nigerians that the thousands of people we disengaged would soon be re-engaged and we may have to actually increase the number of our workers at all sites,’’ Dantata said.
Also speaking, the Country Representative of CCC Construction Limited, Mr Bassam Kawash, promised that the companies would deliver quality jobs in accordance to specifications.
“Our priority is standard and quality, to ensure that all our jobs meet the required specification. Quality and safety remains our top priority in all the projects we have handled in Nigeria,’’ he pledged.
NAN reports that the meeting was called following plans by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning to release N350 billion to service priority road projects across the country. (NAN)