Senate summons PHCN boss over delay in power projects

[MrVan]

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA—THE Senate   has identified non-supervision of power projects across the country as the reason for their non-completion and why the much desired electricity supply was still evasive, just as it summoned the Chief Executive Officer of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, KEDC, to appear before it tomorrow.

Speaking weekend during an inspection of electricity sub-station for the transmission of power to Yelwa, Yauri, Zuru axis in Kebbi State, Chairman, Senate Committee on Power, Steel and Metallurgy, Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda, PDP, FCT warned that a situation where these projects were not monitored by the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, and electricity distribution companies was no longer acceptable, adding that the KEDC boss must appear before the Senate Committee tomorrow to explain why a project awarded in 2007 was still at its embryonic stage.

The contract for the 2 x30/40 MVA S/S 32/32 KV injection substation to supply the people of Zuru emirate electricity was awarded by the Federal Government in 2007 to Valenz Holdings Limited, an indigenous company.

Meanwhile, Valenz Project Manager, David Ozurumba while explaining the nature of the project to Aduda and Senator Mohammed Magoro, PDP Kebbi South, however indicted TCN that projects are awarded by them without even going to sites and knowing the site measurement, just as he said the initial problem why the delay was unavailability of funds.

Speaking further, Senator Aduda who warned that the company must in the next two weeks ensure that it gives progress report of the substation to the Committee, stressed that the upper chambers will no longer accept a situation where government make available money for projects and they were abandoned or delayed unnecessarily by the contractors.

According to Aduda, ''Now we have seen the project, immediately I will ask the committee secretary to write the CEO of Kaduna because I do not see the reason why I will be here and he is not here. I have often said it that the problem we have in the power sector is lack of proper supervision and proper supervision must be put into perspective and people must supervise the work they are given.

''The Secretary of the Committee should invite the contractor and the CEO of Kaduna and the CEO of transmission to Abuja to appear before us on Tuesday so that we can look at the work plan of this contract and the contractors because if this contract was awarded in 2007 and up till now it has not be delivered. You can now see the reason why some of these power projects have not been delivered and you can now see the reason why we had not had power in some certain areas of the country.

"I don't understand why they should not visit the site of a power project when Nigerians are yearning for power. There is need for regular visits to the sites. The power sector is really under supervised. You can't sit in your office and take decisions on what is going on at the site.

"If this contract was awarded and the time line given was completed within that period, Iam not sure we would have been here today, rather we would have been celebrating light around the Yauri area all the way up to Kebbi and probably Sokoto. There is the need for you as the contractor to do the job that you are suppose to do, to carry out all the projects that you are suppose to do without waste of time.

''You have told us here that you have completed that of Umuahia and you are telling us about Kafanchia and now we are Yauri, probably, you have too much on your hand and may be you don't know what to do and now that Umuahia has been completed, I hope you can move your energy and resources back to Yauri.

"I will not accept failure on this project, I repeat, I will not accept failure on this project and in the next two weeks, I will be asking the Distinguished Senator Mohammadu Magoro to come back here and ensure that the promises you have made of your equipment being brought here are here  and from now onward, you file a monthly progress report to us until this project is completed.

''Iam going to go round other states especially in the north to ensure that these projects are put together; I have gone round the South South, South West, and Iam now in the North so that what I have seen in other zones are commensurate with what you people are doing here. Mr. contractor, enough of this grammar, we all know about all these engineering issues.

''You have indicted TCN by saying that they award contract any how by saying that they just award contracts without even going to sites and without even going to site for site measurement; without even knowing the available site, that is unaccepted and Iam going to investigate and find out from TCN why they must award contract without taking into cognisance whether there will be rock in that environment and they will blast the rock and to create way for the contractor to work because the government paid money for the project for you to clear sites.

"You do not have any excuse and between now and 2007 has been too far  and letters of credit were opened which you were suppose to accept the money, equipment are supposed to be on site and you cannot just show me transformer and say that is all you have done.

''If there is this transformer and not powered, that is useless. There is nothing on ground for these people here, the structure, I can say that Iam impressed, and when completed, I will then say if Iam impressed or not, it is finishing that matters. You have said it is the most modern in the TCN family, we will wait and see how modern it is because Iam one of those people who will come here. I will come back here with the Minister of Power, Senator Magoro, the Deputy governor to ensure that this project is commissioned."

Also in his remarks, Senator Mohammed Magoro, Kebbi South who dismissed insinuations that he was out to take the glory of the project, explained that his role was to ensure that the project was completed and the people of his Senatorial district enjoy electricity, just as he urged the member representing the House of Representatives, Halima Hassan to intimate the House Committee on power on the delay to ensure that all hands were on deck for the interest of the people, ''we heard the excuses given by the contractor and discussions of today of course the remedy they have given, I hope that the time frame which they have indicated will be met and by January next year, we should be here for commissioning.''

Vanguard Nigeria