Fashola Charges Staff on Service Delivery The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola,SAN  has charged staff of the ministry to ensure quality service delivery to Nigerians and members of the public. Fashola gave the charge on Friday   in his keynote address at the opening of a retreat for the top management staff of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing and its agencies at Gombe International Hotel Gombe, Gombe State. The theme of the two- day  Top Management Retreat is '"Service Delivery for National Prosperity". It is the 7th retreat in the series held by the Ministry. Fashola explained that the main objective of the retreat is  focused on quality service delivery to Nigerians and members of the public by the management and staff of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. "There is a way you deliver service and get commended and another you get scolded,"he said. He, therefore, urged staff on service delivery with compassion and care in order to create a better public perception of the Ministry.Fashola pointed out that the retreat is an opportunity for staff to reflect on previous performances with a view to fine tuning them for improvement. Earlier in a welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry Mohammed Bukar stated that the ministry has been holding the retreat quarterly since the inception of  the  present administration under the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN. He explained that the common thread that ran through the themes of all the previous retreats  was the concept of "Team Work." Bukar further explained that it was  a deliberate choice to underscore the need for inter and intra-departmental synergy and collaboration in pursuit of the implementation of the core mandates of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing. Speaking specifically on the theme  of the 7th Top Management Retreat, the Permanent Secretary said,  "The emphasis has now shifted to service delivery. This is pursuant to the directive of the Honourable Minister that 'service delivery' shall be the focus of the second term of the President Muhammadu Buhari led Administration." "The relevance of this theme to the core mandate  of the Ministry cannot, therefore, be over emphasized considering the new focus of the management on completion of projects," he said. Bukar , therefore, urged participants to use the two -day forum to engage in cross fertilisation of ideas that will guide the operations of the Ministry, stating that the fundamental objective of the Retreat is to review, fine tune and come out with new strategies for improved service delivery. ...

Plans To Immediately Remove Broken Down Trucks From The Road Underway -Fashola The Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola ,SAN has assured Nigerians that his ministry has made plans to immediately remove any broken down truck on the highways as part of measures to ensure free flow of traffic this year while construction work is on -going. He gave the assurance on Friday while inspecting the rehabilitation of Odukpani- Akpet-Alesi -Ugep road in Cross River state in conclusion of his one week tour of some federal roads in the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones of the country. The Honourable Minister said government intends to adopt a strategy of immediate removal of broken down trucks along Nigerian highways to avoid commuters being delayed. He added that this would apply to all the highways where trucks get stuck easily like the Numan road in Taraba state, Calabar-Itu road and Abeokuta - Ota road. Fashola said, "We want to ensure that this time our contractors are better prepared for the rainy season, so we need to evolve a strategy where our contractors are mindful that yes we have the construction work but the roads must remain motorable during the rainy season." The Minister, however, advised vehicle owners to ensure that their vehicles were well maintained in preparation for the rainy season to avoid break down. He said the 76km Alesi-Ugep road which links Iyamoyung and Akpet communities to other parts of the state used to be one of the troubled spots in the last few years but had become passable. Fashola further said President Muhammadu Buhari was anxious to see that the 67km road was completed knowing its importance to the economy of Cross River State. Speaking earlier, Federal Controller of Works for Cross River State, Engr. Bassey Nsentip disclosed that some communities had benefited economically from the construction of the road adding that the contractor employed 176 skilled and unskilled workers in executing the road project. Engr. Nsentip also said suppliers of building materials and food vendors benefitted immensely from the project. He disclosed that the project was 97% completed as only surface dressing, road markings and signs were yet to be done. He said when all those things were put in place the project would be ready for inauguration.   ...

Hire Local Equipment And Personnel, Fashola Charges Contractor The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN has charged the contractor handling the Dualization of Aba – Ikot Ekpene Road, Section 1 to source and deploy equipment and personnel locally to fast track the pace of work on the road project. The Minister gave the charge during the inspection of the project.He said, “Start hiring local equipment and hire local people that you need, start training them for engagement while waiting for the one from China.” Fashola directed that between now and March all the bad portions of the road must be made motorable before the rains come. He said, “Try and repair the bad portions first before the rains come, so that these people will know that their government care about them. So if you do not finish the construction of the road, they will know the road is getting better”. While speaking to newsmen, the minister said the contract was initially awarded to a different company but had to be terminated due to poor performance and now re-awarded to Messrs CGGC Global Projects Nig. Limited. Speaking earlier, the contractor complained that the equipment and some of the personnel they wanted to use were stuck in China as a result of the outbreak of corona virus. Similarly, while inspecting work on the Dualization of Odukpani – Itu road the minister expressed optimism that the contractor, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited that is handling 21Kilometres of the road will do everything possible to ensure that the road is motorable during the rainy season even if the construction was still on going. The Minister assured the contractor that he doesn’t need to leave the site on funding basis because he had enlisted the project for SUKUK funding hence they wont run out of money. He further informed that the other bad portions of the Odukpani- Itu road which so many people didn’t understand the contractual responsibilities, had been awarded to another company, so we have a contractor on both sides. The Permanent Secretary for Works in Akwa Ibom State, Engr. John Itiat expressed happiness over the commitment of the Federal government to the work on the road. ...