NIPP: N2billion for contractor's blunder

Alaoji is the site of a 1078 megawatts combined cycle power project. It is one of the power plants being constructed by Rockson Engineering under the National Integrated Power Project (NIPP) and among many projects currently under the searchlight of the National Assembly.

Indications are that the Federal Government through the Minister of State for Energy, Fatima Ibrahim bought into the idea of providing N1.6 billion for the construction, expansion and payment of compensation while setting aside the balance of N400 million for exigencies on the same project.

Recently at a briefing of the House committee on energy, representatives of Rockson Engineering Company had complained that work at the site was stalled by its inability to get government to approve variation in the work order to enable them carry out modification on the Imo River Bridge. They also complained that the demurrage on the equipment at the Onne port in Port Harcourt so far is N106.8million.

Other revelations included that the request to the Ministry of Transportation for permission to transport turbines and generators over Imo River bridge could not be granted after 18 months of application, outstanding payment on port charges and terminal handling fees by Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) equipment shipment totalling $956,940.41 and N 86,312,160.27 yet to be paid.

To some energy experts, the sum of N2 billion would sound paltry considering the huge investment in turbines and the logistics involved. But we are piqued by the fact that it took a probe panel for the contractor to open up on the cause of the delay in delivering equipment that would generate over 1078 MW of power to the national grid given the dismal situation of the energy sector.

However, salient questions that require responsible answers by all parties in this transaction need to be high-lighted here. Was the company not aware ab initio that the 220 tonne equipment would be moved to the site before it tendered for the job? Was there no feasibility studies and Environment Impact Assessment report on the project? Did anybody consider the impact of the weight of the equipment on the roads even with the special vehicles that would carry the equipment?

Why were these logistics not considered and incorporated into the initial project? If the contractor did a good job of project proposition, would it not have considered all costs before tendering for the project?

Regarding the demurrage, who was responsible for the delay in given approval for the shipment of the equipment that led to the demurrage? Where will the N2billion come from? Why did government officials, consultants and the contractor ignore such a fundamental issue as logistics especially given the nature of the project, only for it to surface at the eleventh hour?

Nigerians have become wiser and the tax payer would appreciate accountability for expenditure of his contributions to the public treasury. In this era of due process, all the parties in this transaction should realize that the citizenry cannot continue to bear the brunt of their haphazard planning and projections. N2billion is too much prize for the tax payers to bear because of other people's negligence or any other misgivings in this regard.