Published Nov 28, 2024
By Our Correspondent
A cross section of Taraba residents decry the delay in the execution and construction of the Federal Secretariat Complex project on Jalingo.
It will be recalled that the federal government under former president Muhammadu Buhari approved the construction of a federal Secretariat complex Jalingo in 2023 for the duration of 18 months.
The project is designed to bequeath befitting office accommodation to federal government agencies resident in the state.
Mr Tanko Inuwa, a federal government worker said that the news of the project approval came with a lot of excitement and anxiety.
He wondered why the project would be delayed, expressing concern that the project might be reallocated else where.
He also expressed concern with the attitude of the state government by instigating a controversy in the allocation of site for the execution of the project.
Mr Anthony Jimula, another staff of the federal ministry of Health resident in Jalingo complained lack of accommodation for many Federal Government agencies in the state.
Jimula said that the project approval and it execution would have brought recipe to Federal Government agencies suffering office accommodation challenges in the state.
He noted that many agencies of the government were not operating in the state due to lack of office accommodation.
Mrs Martha Isa, a trader said that the project was to enhance economic activities on the town as many of them were already strategizing on how to secure shops for their trades.
She expressed concern that the project may be stalled due to it delay.
All efforts to speak to the UYK Nigeria Ltd, the contractor handling the project failed as his contact was not going through.
Our investigation further revealed that due to the revocation of the site for the project, the contractor in his efforts, acquired a percel of land along the New CBN road for the construction of the federal Secretariat complex project.
Although, TPL Rabiu Ahmad, Controller Housing, Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development Jalingo said that he was still in talks with the state government on the issue of land for the project.
When asked about the site earlier allocated by the state government, Rabiu said that the site was revoked and the allocation of a new one was not yet perfected.
He confirmed that the contractor had gone as far as to securing a 2. 5 hectres land in he purchased with his own money.
The controller however, said that the ministry had rejected the site because it didn’t meet the minimum requirement of site for the construction of such a complex.
Ahmad said that the minimum requirement for a federal Secretariat complex was 5 hectres.
He regretted that the contractor did not seek for a professional advice and went ahead to acquire such a land.
On weather it was the duty of the contractor to have acquire a site for the project, the controller said that it was the duty of the state government to have provided a site for the project.
He noted that the contractor was already mobilised to site and might be frustrated due to the attitude of the state government.
He expressed dismay in the way and manner the state government had handled the issue of land for the project.
He however, said that he was still in discussion with the officials of the state on the issue.
It would be recalled that the state government earlier revoked the site which was duely allocated for the project by the previous administration of former Gov. Darius Ishaku.
The Taraba government claimed flaws in the allocation process insisting the site was for the development of the state trade fair complex.
The contract for the construction of Agbu Kefas Ultramodern Shopping Complex had been awarded to the Mesotho Group Nigeria Ltd through the ministry of Commerce and Industries.
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