MKPOIKANA UDOMA 26 September 2014, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt – The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says work has been stepped up on its multi-million naira permanent headquarters in Port Harcourt, with contractors set to deliver the project in the first quarter of 2015.
The building which was initiated by the defunct Oil Minerals Producing Areas Development Commission, OMPADEC, is now being fast-tracked by the current Board of the NDDC.
Members of the NDDC Governing board, who inspected the building project recently, have set a target of April, 2015 for the completion of the multi-storey complex.
A statement by the Head of Corporate Affairs of the Commission, Mr. Ibitoye Abosede, said chairman of the commission’s governing board, Senator Bassey Ewa-Henshaw, has expressed satisfaction with the quality of work on the building, adding that the project was very special to the commission and as such would be funded appropriately to facilitate its early completion.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NDDC, Barrister Bassey Dan-Abia, according to the statement, said the commission considered it necessary and important to provide a conducive working environment for its staff, noting that funding challenges will not deter the completion of the project.
According to him, the project is a part of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan, thus necessitating the urgency which the current Board has attached to its completion.
Minister of Environment, Mrs Laurentia Mallam, who is also a member of the NDDC Governing Board representing the Federal Ministry of Environment, according to the statement, charged the contractors to comply fully with the Environmental Impact Assessment, EIA, of the project, as her ministry would insist on full compliance with the specifications outlined in the EIA.
The statement further said that the project coordinator, Architect Felix Darko, gave assurances to the NDDC Board members that the building would be completed on schedule and according to the required standards and specifications.
The multi-million NDDC headquarters project which has been on for the past 10 years, according to the statement when completed, would include other ancillary facilities such as a medical centre, car park, restaurant, bank, among others.
