The Federal Government yesterday vowed to crack-down on contractors engaging in the construction of substandard school building projects in the country.
It hinted that already, arrangements were being put in place to deploy monitors to all its school projects across the country, warning contractors to sit up or have themselves to blame.
Executive Secretary of UBEC, Dr. Hamid Bobboyi, stated this during the training of staff of the commission’s department of physical planning, on enhancing quality delivery of projects, using simple tools for on-the-spot assessment at project sites.
He charged stakeholders, including the State Universal Basic Education Boards, SUBEBs, to ensure quality in the delivery of school building projects henceforth, saying government would not accept anything less.
Speaking further during the event put together, in collaboration with the Nigeria Building and Road Research Institute,NBRRI, and a private firm, Tectonics Engineering Group, Abuja, the UBEC boss reiterated that the commission would no longer condone shoddy execution of projects.
He warned contractors about the r!sks of delivering substandard school infrastructure in the country, even as he restated the commitment of the commission to improve the quality of educational structures in order to ensure safe and conducive learning environment for Nigerian children.
He also disclosed that the commission would deploy monitors who would frequently go to find out what was going on across construction sites.
“We are dealing with very strategic sector, with children who are between the ages of five and six up to about 12 that are very vulnerable in any building c0llapse. We saw that when it happened in Jos.
It is our responsibility to ensure that we take all necessary steps to build school infrastructure that are solid and can stand the test of time,” he stated.
According to him, for quite some time, the commission has had an elaborate monitoring system as far as construction of educational infrastructure or school infrastructure is concerned.
Bobboyi also said the commission was working with NBRRI through its Chief Executive, Prof. Samson Duna, and had also been working with Council for Registration of Engineers in Nigeria, COREN, for a few years to ensure they were part of the monitoring teams at the state level.
He said: “Instead of just looking at what is there and so on and so forth, it’s to go with the kind of gadgets that can also help us to test the strength of the materials being used.
“It’s our hope that with our partners, NBRRI and other stakeholders, as well as the State Universal Basic Education Boards, SUBEBs, in our effort to achieve good outcomes as far as these projects are concerned.”
Also speaking, the Director-General/CEO, NBRRI, Professor Samson Duna, said the training programme was a proactive step by UBEC to forestall the incidence of rampant building c0llapse in Nigeria, especially school buildings. “”So I’m now throwing a warning to contractors involved in taking contracts in constructing schools without following the required specification. They should sit up.
UBEC has come up with an idea of ascertaining the quality of construction materials used on site. The quality of concrete needs to be specified and the contractor must adhere to it. If he didn’t use it, the UBEC staff visiting the site are expected to travel with tools for inspection.
“Those tools will enable them to know if the contractor is using the right material and if the concrete used is in conformity with the design,” he said.
He reiterated commitment to ensure that the quality of concrete met the specification, saying it had established tools that measured the concrete in its wet state and when it had hardened.
Peoplesmind
