Inflation: revision of contract values inevitable —Okowa
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and vice-presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) said that due to rising prices, it had become inevitable for the government to revise upwards the value of contracts.
Mr. Okowa, who said this during an interview with reporters on Friday in Isheagu, said the inflationary trend has informed the need for a recent cost review of some ongoing projects in the state.
The governor, after inspecting the ongoing construction of the Isheagu-Ewulu road and bridge in Aniocha South local government area of the state, said the current economic indices in the country had negative effects on each segment of activities and, therefore, made a review of the contract values are inevitable.
He said the road and bridge, when completed, would serve two large agrarian communities of Isheagu and Ewulu.
He said the contract for the project was awarded in January 2021 and would be completed in December 2022, adding that the 4.7 kilometer Isheagu section had already been reconstructed.
He also said that from the bridge to Ewulu, another new 4.4 kilometer stretch of road would be constructed.
"With what is happening in Nigeria right now, the inflation rate is very high and it affects everything else, especially infrastructure construction.
"Most of our contractors are struggling so we had no choice but to revise the rate as inflation has increased by 18.6% and this is in fact affecting all aspects of people's lives.
"As for the cost of construction, the high cost of diesel at the moment, the asphalt has also suddenly become very high and of course, to drive most of the motorized equipment you need for the works of construction, you need a lot of diesel.
"The cost of the rod has also increased and it is increasing day by day.
“Unfortunately, beyond the global trends of the Russian-Ukrainian war which has also devalued our naira causing it to depreciate daily and this significantly affects the initial cost of contracts,” he said.
Mr. Okowa, who was guided around the project by the Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Mr. Noel Omodon, explained that the government had no choice but to review the cost of the projects to ensure their completion within delays. biting inflation.
"After looking at everything, we had to save the budget and the sooner we find a way to finish the projects the better, otherwise the escalation will continue even more on a daily basis.
"So it's quite difficult and we would have liked not to find ourselves in the kind of difficulties that we are having, but we have no choice.
“We started the projects and we have to finish them, otherwise the contractors will leave the site and when they move, the remobilization will cost more and we don't want to go that route at all.
READ ALSO: UPDATE: Inflation in Nigeria hits five-year high due to soaring food prices"This is a very unfortunate situation we find ourselves in; it skews our budgeting and we just hope that we can continue to realign our budget to keep up with the pace of construction we are going through.
"Beyond putting the infrastructure in place, it also creates jobs for our young people and we can't afford to have contractors move because it means you're going to take food off the table. families, which is also not good for us.
"I have been informed that the project will be finished at the end of December.
"From what we see, life is coming back to Isheagu thanks to the excitement on people's faces because the road would help them evacuate their agricultural products," Okowa said.
The governor also inspected the ongoing works in the C1 sector of the Ughelli-Asaba road near the Obo River where the contractor said the construction of the bridge will be completed in October while the road will be ready in December .
(NAN)
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Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta and vice-presidential candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) said that due to rising prices, it had become inevitable for the government to revise upwards the value of contracts.
Mr. Okowa, who said this during an interview with reporters on Friday in Isheagu, said the inflationary trend has informed the need for a recent cost review of some ongoing projects in the state.
The governor, after inspecting the ongoing construction of the Isheagu-Ewulu road and bridge in Aniocha South local government area of the state, said the current economic indices in the country had negative effects on each segment of activities and, therefore, made a review of the contract values are inevitable.
He said the road and bridge, when completed, would serve two large agrarian communities of Isheagu and Ewulu.
He said the contract for the project was awarded in January 2021 and would be completed in December 2022, adding that the 4.7 kilometer Isheagu section had already been reconstructed.
He also said that from the bridge to Ewulu, another new 4.4 kilometer stretch of road would be constructed.
"With what is happening in Nigeria right now, the inflation rate is very high and it affects everything else, especially infrastructure construction.
"Most of our contractors are struggling so we had no choice but to revise the rate as inflation has increased by 18.6% and this is in fact affecting all aspects of people's lives.
"As for the cost of construction, the high cost of diesel at the moment, the asphalt has also suddenly become very high and of course, to drive most of the motorized equipment you need for the works of construction, you need a lot of diesel.
"The cost of the rod has also increased and it is increasing day by day.
“Unfortunately, beyond the global trends of the Russian-Ukrainian war which has also devalued our naira causing it to depreciate daily and this significantly affects the initial cost of contracts,” he said.
Mr. Okowa, who was guided around the project by the Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Mr. Noel Omodon, explained that the government had no choice but to review the cost of the projects to ensure their completion within delays. biting inflation.
"After looking at everything, we had to save the budget and the sooner we find a way to finish the projects the better, otherwise the escalation will continue even more on a daily basis.
"So it's quite difficult and we would have liked not to find ourselves in the kind of difficulties that we are having, but we have no choice.
“We started the projects and we have to finish them, otherwise the contractors will leave the site and when they move, the remobilization will cost more and we don't want to go that route at all.
READ ALSO: UPDATE: Inflation in Nigeria hits five-year high due to soaring food prices"This is a very unfortunate situation we find ourselves in; it skews our budgeting and we just hope that we can continue to realign our budget to keep up with the pace of construction we are going through.
"Beyond putting the infrastructure in place, it also creates jobs for our young people and we can't afford to have contractors move because it means you're going to take food off the table. families, which is also not good for us.
"I have been informed that the project will be finished at the end of December.
"From what we see, life is coming back to Isheagu thanks to the excitement on people's faces because the road would help them evacuate their agricultural products," Okowa said.
The governor also inspected the ongoing works in the C1 sector of the Ughelli-Asaba road near the Obo River where the contractor said the construction of the bridge will be completed in October while the road will be ready in December .
(NAN)
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