Contractors executing projects at the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Owerri in Imo have appealed for contract variations to enable them complete their projects.The contractors made the appeal in Owerri on Friday during a visit of a delegation from the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC) led by Head of Legal Investigation and Enforcement Unit, Mr Charles Abana.One of the contractors handling the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) building in the hospital, Mr Uche Uche told the delegation that the delay in completion of various projects awarded to them was due to poor funding on the side of the government and project cost variation.Uche said that high cost of materials and the lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic also affected the project completion adding that he had executed 70 per cent of the project.He said for the job to be completed, government had to pay the cost variation to enable him meet up with the present cost of building materials.The contractor handling a two storey medical ward, Mr Tito Asekame also told the team that the project since awarded had suffered serious setback due to poor funding.He appealed to the federal government to release funds on time to enable him complete the project as stipulated in the award letter.Asekame also appealed to government to consider the variation cost occured in the project due to delay in fund disbursement. Leader of the delegation, Mr Abana urged the contractors of the projects not to be discouraged by the high cost of building materials, but to ensure that every money released by the government was justified.“I can understand that part of the delay was caused by the recent lockdown, which was followed by the #End-SARS crises, however, you must justify the money so far given to you by the government.“We are in the South-East specifically to inspect federal government funded projects, we will inspect 11 projects in the zone which will include the second Niger Bridge,” he said.He said the delegation observed some contract variation in the projects due to high cost of building materials, but however, advised the contractors to ensure they justify money released to them before talking about contract variation.“Our observations are that there are critical projects going on in FMC Owerri which needed to be completed immediately, we are going to include them in our report and advise the government properly,” he said.The Chief Medical Director of the FMC, Dr Kinsley Achigbu appealed to the federal government to ensure money was released for the completion of critical projects in the centre.He enlisted some of the challenges in the hospital to include bed space for patients, inadequate funding among others.He commended the team for the visit, while also expressing optimism that the visit would translate to good virtue in the hospital.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team inspected MRI, Specialists Outpatient Building, Renal Dialysis Center among others. (NAN)
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