KADUNA – The Presidential Committee on Barracks Rehabilitation on Wednesday threatened to terminate unexecuted and abandoned contracts on the rehabilitation of military barracks.
The committee Chairman, Mrs Binta Muazu, issued the threat when she inspected projects in Jaji and Kaduna.
Muazu said the rehabilitation of military barracks was embarked upon to improve the welfare of members of the armed forces in line with President Godluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda.
She said the work would only be accepted when it was satisfactorily completed to the acceptance of the military authorities and the committee.
The chairman said the committee would issue query to any contractor found wanting and could also get the contract terminated.
“From what you are seeing generally, you can see how bad the buildings are, some of them are burnt, dilapidated and abandoned.
“So, in order to salvage the situation, we (committee) came in as instructed by the president to restore the structures to their functional state,’’ she said.
Muazu also commended some of the contractors for a job well done but insisted that the committee wanted a little bit more on the finishing.
“You can see the improvement on the Corporal and Below Quarters (CBQ), we used to have woods as roof members.
“We have steel now, we have long span aluminum as against asbestos, we have the PVC ceilings as against asbestos ceilings and we have tiles on the walls, aluminum windows and burglary proof,’’ Muazu said.
The chairman said that the contractors would be given a few days to effect minor changes before the committee would accept and take over the property.
Muazu noted that, “the Demo Battalion Barrack in Jaji cost about N300 million’’.
The houses renovated include eight Corporal and Below Quarters (CBQ), three Married Officers’ Quarters (MOQ) type A, Six MOQ-3 bedroom type B and five Senior Non-Commission Officers’ (SNCO) Quarters.
The Commander Army Infantry Corps Jaji, Maj.-Gen. Mohammed Abubakar, was represented by the Chief of Staff, Brig.-Gen. Olusegun Soleye.
Abubakar said some officers who were supposed to be living in the barrack were currently living in a rented apartment.
He said the brief was to acquit the committee on the plight of the officers while seeking the committee’s intervention on the MOQ that got burnt to ease accommodation problem.
Abubakar also said the contractors had not done too badly, and urged them to rectify some of the minor problems within a short time.
Thirty-four projects were completed while pressure was being mounted for the completion of other projects. (NAN)
