The Ebonyi State Government has barred some contractors from handling any job in the state for seven years.
Briefing journalists on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting held at the New Government House in Abakaliki on Tuesday, the Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Jude Okpor, said a total of 29 contracting firms were blacklisted.
According to Okpor, the contractors were handling the Izzo and Amaeze Autonomous Communities’ 140 housing units in Ishielu Local Government Area of the state and were barred from executing further contracts in the state till the end of the administration.
Okpor maintained that Council considered the report on the performance of different contractors handling the jobs before the decision to blacklist them.
Recall that the estate was conceived to resettle the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the Ezza, Ezillo Communal crisis that led to the killing of many people, both indigenes and non-indigenes as well as destruction of property worth trillions of naira.
He insisted that no contractor, no matter how highly placed, would be allowed by the administration to unnecessarily delay government projects.
Okpor who did not name the firms, however said that the State Government is keen on commissioning major projects embarked upon, adding that no excuse would be accepted for any delay in contract execution already paid for by the government.
Okpor said, “Council considered report on the performance of different contractors handling jobs in the ongoing Estates for the resettlement of Izzo and Amaeze autonomous communities in Ishielu Local Government Area. Council approved the blacklisting of 29 contractors for unsatisfactory performance and barred them from executing further jobs in the state.”
