Delta State Government has charged contractors in the state not to bid for any state government's project that they do not have the capacity to deliver.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Dr. Kingsley Emu who handed down the charge at a meeting with contractors executing various projects for the state government held on Thursday in Asaba, said the state government would not tolerate sub-standard projects. 

Dr. Emu was joined at the meeting by the Commissioner for Works, Highways and Urban Roads, Comrade Reuben Izeze and his Rural and Riverine Roads counterpart, Mr. Charles Aniagwu. 

He implored contractors to avoid shortcuts and execute projects that would ultimately stand the test of time. 

He said: "We don't want contractors to pile up jobs and they are not doing them. If you don't have capacity to do a job, don't take the job. 

"Advance payments is just to support you to cushion your initial takeoff; especially where the contract is very important and urgent. 

"There is no reason for having a job for one year and you are not executing it and you are caught up by variations. The state will not pay those variations, we will only pay variations that are due and genuine. 

"We also know that the price escalations have also made the cost of doing business very high. Therefore, we will start prioritising on our payment plans. 

"So, if you have five running contracts, you have to take one or two and complete it before going to the next. If you don't do that, you will have a situation where variations will catch up with all five contracts. 

"If, as a contractor, you are given a job and the cost of award of the contract is not suitable to you, please drop that job. Don't take it with the assumption that there will be variations later."

On the import of the meeting, Dr. Emu said; "the state government thought it very expedient to have engagement with its numerous contractors as a result of challenges occasioned by price escalation in the country lately. 

"To be able to manage the challenges, we needed to have effective engagement. We have been able to tell them clearly today how we think that we need to proceed which is a summary of their inputs and our inputs. We need quality roads, and the governor will not take anything sub-standard." 

Speaking in an interview with journalists, the Commissioner for Works (Rural and Riverine Roads), Mr. Charles Aniagwu, said Governor Oborevwori takes the issue of construction of projects very seriously, adding that the governor was also interested in the supervising ministries being on the same page with the contractors in terms of quality. 

"In the course of time, a number of jobs have been awarded and we have also awarded new ones. Some of the challenges we have with the jobs inherited is that some of them are coming up with what we call review on account of price escalation. 

"We are not saying that we will not do review of these jobs, but the review must be realistic so that it gives value to our people. For instance, if you have done a road contract up to binder, which is the first layer of asphalt before the price escalations, in doing the review, it will be on the job left undone and not on the entire contract." 

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Comrade Reuben Izeze said Governor Oborevwori has approved the payment of over N60 billion to various contractors within the ministry of works alone since he assumed duties as governor of the state. 

He noted that the governor has been fulfilling the state government's obligations to contracting firms who are up and doing and have remained on site despite the outrageous escalation in prices of materials.