By the Media Department of WUEDA
The consultant for the Delta State government’s flood control project, Engr. John Onwualor of JEFCON, and the Director General of Warri, Uvwie and Environs Special Area Development Agency, (WUEDA), Hon. Prince Godwin Ejinyere and their teams of engineers on Wednesday carried out close supervision of the project at selected sites where they identified and corrected serious technical errors on the spot.
Engr. Onwualor said the close supervision was not to witch hunt the contractor, CCECC but to ensure that the firm executed the job according to design or specifications, identify errors early and promptly correct them to forestall bigger problems after job completion.
He said “it is counter productive to identify errors when massive work had been done, as that would require breaking down some aspects of a finished project, which in turn could cause serious problems between the Agency and the contractor.”
He said the Agency, the consultant and the contractor should work as a team with a view to delivering quality jobs, and that close supervision was aimed at early discovery of errors and nipping them in the bud to save time and funds, and also to ensure quality job delivery.
Engr. Onwualor said his team discovered that a man-hole inlet was wrongly prepared and he told CCECC to crack it down with a jack hammer and rebuild it according to its original design so that it could have the appropriate strength to carry the vehicular weights that would come on it when put into use.
For his part, WUEDA’s Director of Project and Works, Engr. Bemigho Ofoeyeno said CCECC did not have any qualified engineer on site to manage the project on its behalf, and stressed the need for the firm to engage one without delay.
He also emphasized the need for CCECC to inform WUEDA before commencing any project, and seek permission from the Agency before going to any location to enable it (CCECC) know where to start from, instead of just moving from one location to another without WUEDA’s instructions.
Engr. Ofoeyeno told the contracting firm to work in the areas where over 60% of compensations had been paid, pending the payment of the balance. He urged the contractor to seek advice from WUEDA’s engineers on aspects of the contract which require clarifications, so as to avoid serious technical errors, unnecessary delay, and waste of funds.
The WUEDA Director of Project also urged CCECC to come up with a programme of work for the project. This, he said, “is to enable the Agency know where the firm wants to work, where it is currently, and where it will complete the job.” According to him, “this will make supervision easier and more effective.”
The sites of the State flood control project visited for the close supervision included Airport Road by Union Bank, Effurun; Airport Road by Edjeba junction, Warri; as well as the site by the Warri City Stadium, Warri (being handled by Levant Construction Company).
Meanwhile, the Director General of WUEDA, Prince Godwin Ejinyere who led the team to the site by Union Bank before leaving for another official assignment, commended JEFCON Consultants, and the civil engineers of the Agency for spotting the technical errors that would have rubbished the project at the end.
He said “Governor Sheriff Oborevwori has zero tolerance for shoddy jobs, and therefore, WUEDA will continue to supervise the contractor closely so that Govt can have value for the huge sums of money being spent to execute the flood control and road construction projects in WUEDA’s mandate areas.
