ULO Consultants Pulls From Asaba Airport Project, Others
The contractor handling the construction of the Asaba downgraded International Airport, ULO Consultants Limited, shocked Deltans when the company announced its disengagement.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Chief Uche Okpuno, made the shocking announcement when the chairman and members of the Delta State House of Assembly (DTHA) House Committee headed by Evans Iwurie, summoned him and the Commissioner for Works Chief James Augoye to appear before it to give explanations as to why the airport has not been put to use despite the huge resources that has been committed to it.
In a letter by Chief Okpuno, to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, said his company would begin disengagement from site from November 20, 2017. The letter was dispatched to Okowa, Friday, November 17, 2017, our correspondent learnt.
“The estimates prepared by the Ministry of Works in 2014 without our inputs negates due process and principle of contract as no reputable Civil Engineering company of competence was involved in the preparing of a competitive Bill of Engineering measurement and evaluation”, the letter read in part.
ULO Consultants Ltd noted that it formally withdrew from site over what he termed as “unfavourable working conditions”, just as Okpuno further disclosed that the company would pull out of all projects been executed on behalf of the state government.
Deltans especially indigenes of Asaba, the state capital have expressed worries over the contractor’s sudden withdrawal may spell doom for the airport as the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) may do a further downgrading which may lead to the airport’s total shutdown for obvious reasons.
It would be recalled that the airport had been previously shut over safety concerns after aviation officials expressed concerns over the runway and taxiway, as well as the work on the obstacle free zone in the airport.
Although, the state government and the contractor have been trying to correct the issues raised by federal aviation officials without much success before the contractor suddenly announced his withdrawal which would technically put rehabilitation work at the airport on hold maybe for a long time.
But in withdrawing their entire services from the state, ULO agreed to review all the works done by them in conjunction with the State Ministry of Works to determine if in their obligation to the state, they owe or the state owes them, including a comprehensive cost audit.
Meanwhile, investigation revealed that Okowa has allegedly declined to review terms of the contract, which was initially awarded by his predecessor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan despite ULO’s insistence that it could not continue to service the project due to rising costs occasioned by the devaluation of the naira.
Our investigation also revealed that the disengagement of ULO would not be the first in the Okowa administration, as other notable construction companies such as CCECC, Setraco and Levante have allegedly pulled out over same issues.
Companies doing construction works in the state presently are allegedly owned by political associates to Okowa, as the ones allegedly used by the government to carry out construction works.
But in a swift reaction, the state government in a press release said, “Following reports in some online journals on the Asaba airport project insinuating that some major construction companies are exiting the state as a result of "harsh working conditions," I wish to categorically state that those reports are totally false and baseless”.
“As at today, reputable companies that have track records of quality project delivery like CCECC, Sectraco and Levante are very much on ground executing several projects across the State”, the Commissioner for Information, Patrick Ukah, said it his release.