Julius Berger Assures FG On 2nd Niger Bridge, Lagos-Sagamu Road
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has assured the Federal government that the second Niger Bridge would be completed on the contract schedule.
The Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr. Lars Richter, also expressed optimism that the Abuja-Kano road and Lagos-Sagamu expressway projects would be completed as contracted to his firm.
Richter, who stated that the three top priority projects of the Federal government were duly awarded to Julius Berger, said that requisite human and technical resources, even new technologies, have been mobilised to complete the jobs on schedule.
The Julius Berger boss spoke when he appeared before the Abubakar Kabir Abubakar-led House of Representatives Committee on Works probing the alleged slow pace of work on the projects.
Richter said the Bureau for Public Procurement (BPP) duly issued Letters of No Objection for the projects as required by extant procurement law, denying claims that his firm did not get the contracts through due process.
According to Richter, Julius Berger lawfully bidded for the projects, after which the rest of the contract award process remained the statutory work and responsibility of the Federal Ministry of Works to handle.
“We reasonably bid for projects, but we are not by law part of the official procurement process, which is the statutory duty of the ministry.
“It is the Ministry of Works that receives a Letter of No Objection to any contract, not our company. BPP itself vets the rates contractors submit to the ministry, and the ministry again takes the rates vetted by the BPP to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) for approval by the President-in-Council.
Julius Berger is not at all entitled to a say in the process apart from the submission of our bid for a project with the ministry.”
(EyeWitness)
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