By Daniel Tyokua
The minister of state for FCT, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, on Tuesday said the N640 million abandoned Pilgrims Welfare Board complex would soon be completed.
She gave the assurance while on assessment tour of the 5 storey building project located at Kaura district of Abuja.
In a statement issued by Austine Elemue, Special Assistance on Media to the minister, said work on the building started in 2015 but has only advanced to 20 percent completion since its commencement.
The minister explained that the project falls within the category of one of the abandoned projects in the Federal Capital Territory that needs urgent attention.
She said, “it is a presidential mandate to complete all abandoned projects.This practically one falls into one of the cases of an abandoned projects and as we all know, Mr. President commitment from the beginning of his administration is to ensure that we complete all abandoned projects.
“We will continue to do our best to enable the contractor do the needful. A lot of resources have been committed to this structure and abandoning it at this stage of completion only leads to wastage of government resources. So we will see what we can do, and I am happy the contractor has returned to site with a renewed vigour.
“Apparently, even in the budget we can say that it is a priority, but let us see the enthusiasm, the capacity of the contractor to do the needful, because the project requires a budgetary provision to bring it to a logical conclusion”.
The minister also promised that the administration would ensure that genuine contractors are paid on the level of work done.
Also, the Managing Director of Berdotez Associates Limited, Engr. Ejike Amu-Nnadi, assured the minister that the project would be completed in 20 months.
He thanked the minister for the political will demonstrated so far, Amu-Nnadi, reiterated the commitment of his firm to deliver quality job of international repute.
According to him, “We have received a lot of boost and commitment from the present administration that is why we have the confidence to keep investing. This is a very huge project and it is an institutional project of international repute.
“We have committed ourselves to diligence at work and steadfastness to make sure that we achieve the 20 months timeline. In accordance with our programme of work, we should have rounded up this project. We need your support, commitment and anything that can speed up this project.
“Without you, we cannot achieve it. Without your political will, it will be difficult because this project has suffered a lot of setbacks due to lack of political will. But with your commitment and political will, we are back to site and we are not stopping until we finished.
“By December, we will come back to show you the progress we have recorded and it will be very impressive. We and our partners will make sure that we achieve good results. Your coming here has further boosted our confidence and we will not disappoint you”.
