Enugu Govt inspects Smart schools,Type 2 PHC projects in Ezeagu , insists on quality , timely delivery

In line with his administration’s determination to deliver quality and legacy projects to the people of the state, Enugu state Governor ,Dr. Peter Mbah’ has urged contractors and their site Engineers handling constructions of the 260 SMART schools and 260 Type 2 Primary Health Centers in the 260 wards in the state to use quality materials, build according to specifications and to deliver the projects on time to avoid variations.

Pix- Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr . Gerald Otiji(L) Prof Ndubueze Mbah, Commissioner for Education ( R)

Pix- The state monitoring team led by the SSG, Prof Chidiebere Onyia (5th Left)

Speaking after inspecting the sites alongside the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure,Engr Gerald Otiji, the Commissioner for Education, Prof Ndubueze Mbah’,Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Chairman of the Enugu State Universal Basic Education(ENSUBEB) and monitoring team, at different communities in Ezeagu Local Government Area on Wednesday ,Secretary to the State Government,Prof Chidiebere Onyia , said the purpose of the inspection was to monitor compliance and to ensure quality.

Pix- The monitoring team in Omogho Type 2 Primary health center site

Pix- Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr . Gerald Otiji(L) Prof Ndubueze Mbah, Commissioner for Education ( R)

He said the Governor wants to make sure that they did not run the three risks eminent in every construction, saying, “We met with the contractors and their site Engineers and with the Commissioners for work and infrastructure, Commissioner for Education, Commissioner for Budget and planning, we have the Senior special assistant on PDI.

Pix- Dr. G.O.C. Ajah mni, ENSUBEB chairman

”We also have the chairman of ENSUBEB, these are the three layers of our monitoring team. The Head of Personnel Management (HPMs) at the Local Government levels are also here to monitor the day to day. We will do the third level and the second level will be done by the chairman ENSUBEB and the Commissioners being coordinated by the technical team from the ministry of work and infrastructure.

“What His Excellency is setting out to achieve here is to make sure that we did not run the three risks that we know that are eminent in every construction, considering that it will come a time in Enugu state, very shortly, when we will have almost five hundred live projects ,Smart schools,Primary Healthcare facilities in all two hundred and sixty wards.(260) wards in addition to the roads constructions that are going on across the board. So, we are building a very strong monitoring team that will address the quality aspect of it .

Pix- Smart school site

“We are also taking into consideration the cost risk that comes when the time risk begins to happen , because ,once we miss the timeline , the next is that we begin to discuss variation. So, this team here is to ensure that the three risk levels are not achieved.

” We are also working in engaging with the local stakeholders to ensure the security of the process here.So, that will help us address issue around theft, around people coming to puffer materials we brought to the site ,but more importantly is at the end of the project, the sustainability of it , the ownership of it is going to be taken completely onboard by the these stakeholders that these schools are in their communities..

Pix- Type 2 Primary Health Center site at Okpojo Ukwuagba

He went further to say, “So, what we are also doing is engaging with them and having conversations around things that may be of concern to them. We are also ensuring that the local government leadership is involved in this because, we do know tha ENSUBEB is the one that superintends and supervises K to Nine, which is Elementary to Upper middle school, which is JSS 3, so they are there and they work through the local government.

“So, what His Excellency set out to achieve is not something we are looking at ,‘an Eight -year project, but something that will out- live. These are legacy projects and we know that the foundation of legacy projects is around the collaboration that seats behind it. .

Community leaders presenting kola to the Government team at a kSmart school site i

So , it’s not just monitoring but it’s building on all the key facets that will make sure that these projects achieve the objectives, which means we are going to have Smart children coming out of our local governments, Smart Teachers , that’s why we have accommodation for them and we are also going to ensure that Enugu generally have Smart workforce. That’s why we are here,” Onyia said.

On the fear of having abandoned projects, the Secretary to the State Government said Enugu state Government had allocated 33% of it’s annual budget to education and”what that means is that His Excellency factored what it will take to ensure that projects start from foundation to completion and handover.

“So, what you are seeing going on in Enugu state is not going to be a case of abandoned project. The financial aspect of it is already catered for in our budget. What we are doing here is to ensure quality of the delivery, the value for money. So, it won’t be a case of abandoned project We have also taken into consideration the micro economic issues that affect our budget in the sense that the cost of Naira today may not be what it was when we did bill of quantity .

“So, the team here is reviewing that effectively to make sure that we are not going to be exposed to any of those risks. That is why I had talked about the three risks that His Excellency wants to mitigate. One of them is the cost risk, which is the factor of the change and shift in issues around the economy, but we are working fast to keep to the timeline.. If we do that, we can minimize that So, the financial model is already in the design. We are not going to have abandoned project,” he said

Pix- Dr. G. O. C. Ajah, mni, Chairman ENSUBEB

On his part, chairman of Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board (ENSUBEB,) Dr Gabriel.O.C Ajah,,mni, said they were happy with what they saw.

According to him, contractors complied with specifications as per the directives given tto them to ensure quality.and where there were gaps ,they were corrected.

Pix- Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr . Gerald Otiji(L) Prof Ndubueze Mbah, Commissioner for Education ( R)

He said they want to be sure there is value for the project, adding that the projects will be completed in six months time and the schools will start in September,2024.

On his advice to the Community, he said, “the community is happy as you can see they are happy. I advise the community to own their project and secure it. Security is everybody’s business. The people are happy. Government has never come to the people at ward level”, Ajah said.

Project sites visited were Omogho(PHC) Okpata Ezema-Imezi Owa( Smart school) , Okpueze Umumba -Ndiuno,( Smart school) Aguobu- Umumba(Smart school), Agba Umuna( Smart School), Umuna- Ndiagu(Smart school), Agu Agbaja(Smart school), Ozom Mgbagbuowa( Smart School)and Okpojo Ukwuagba(PHC) Communities.