OKOROCHA TASKED ON ABANDONED PROJECTS

Government of Imo State has been urged to complete all abandoned
health and school projects since they affect the lives and livelihood
of citizens.
A Civil Society Organisation, Citizens Center for Integrated
Development and Social Rights, CCIDESSOR, made the call recently in
Owerri during the inauguration of Citizens Accountability Assembly in
Ngor Okala Local Government Area.

Executive Director of the group, Mr Emeka Ononamadu, who was
represented by the Program Director, Igwe Chidi, regretted that since
the return of democracy in Nigeria in 1999, the state government has
budgeted and spent so much on capital projects, but the impact of the
huge revenue and expenditure have not been felt by the people.

He noted that the state has been building schools, hospitals, roads,
markets etc since its creation, yet none of them have been completed,
even as he reported that there are more than 12,000 abandoned projects
in Nigeria, adding that they can be referred to as abandoned
development of citizens and communities.

The exercise, according to him, showed that among the 121 projects
with variuos start time from 2010-2014, only 32 have been completed,
but are disability unfriendly as those with physical disability cannot
access them. "This means 26.4 percent. It was also discovered that 34
projects were also abandoned representing 28 percent, while 51
projects have been ongoing for over a minimum of six months. This
represents 42 percent of total projects monitored in the six council
areas."

Ononamadu expressed concern that facts are not available to many
citizens due to the difficulty in participating, accessing and
understanding the budget, noting that there is also the additional
factor of non-participation in monitoring of capital projects. "We are
now making it available so that communities can engage government with
concrete facts," he said.