New Strategies On Project Delivery

Over the years, completion of several rural projects awarded to contractors in Lagos  State, southwest Nigeria, was always delayed due to several factors.  Some of the  factors could be attributed to inclement weather conditions and improper funding,  among others.

The need to fashion out new strategies for effective and timely project delivery in  rural projects led to the convocation of a one-day stakeholders’ workshop on:  Contractor Financed Option for Project Implementation/Provision of Infrastructure in  Rural Areas in Lagos State.

The workshop, held at the Conference Room, Lagos State Environmental Protection  Agency, LASEPA drew contractors from the private sector and experts in project  administration and execution across the state. The workshop was put together by the  Lagos State Ministry of Rural Development.

“The driving force behind organizing the workshop is our desire to introduce new  strategies with the hope of achieving new and better results and improved service  delivery.

“The general call on Ministry, Department and Agency, MDAs is to improve with the  aim of lifting the target of 90 per cent overall budget performance. Obviously,  issues such as procurement method, funding, project financing and management are  critical to improved budget performance,” said Engr. Babatunde Oshodi, Permanent  Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Rural Development.

“Over the years, attempts at taking advantage of dry weather period which in Nigeria  falls between November and April had not yielded much. As a matter of fact, by our  traditional procurement and funding method, most contracts commenced in the middle  of the rainy season.

“Most time, contractors collect down payment from government and sit at home waiting  for the rains to subside. Price increase occurs in some cases between the time  contractor collects advance payment and when the rain subsides, leading to variation  controversies,” he added.

According to him, the major works executed by the rural ministry in a bid to stem  rural-urban drift were provision of water and sanitation facilities; rural  electrification, solar light, opening of rural roads, rehabilitation and  construction of rural roads, among others.

He said with proper funding and sustained project execution, no rural projects  should require more than 12 weeks before completion, adding that the implication was  that if projects commenced in February of any year, they should be completed before  the rains comes in May.

“Effective quality time delivery of projects within dry weather period is the goal  of this workshop,” he stated.

Commissioner for Rural Development, Prince Lanre Balogun, disclosed that the concept  to ensure that contractors delivered projects awarded to them on time started some  years back, adding that “that is why we introduced Rural Development Infrastructural  Partnership programme; it is a way to sensitize the citizenry, especially those that  are resident in Lagos.

“It is to also look at the source of their income and where a large part of their  income is being generated and for them to also give back to the society in terms of  corporate social responsibility.

“We realised that majority of the companies are giving back to the community in  terms of providing community halls, boreholes, healthcare delivery and other basic  facilities to the people. Very soon, an executive bill will be forwarded to the  House of Assembly, in a manner that before any organisation within and outside the  state provides any facility to Lagosians, they must link up with the agency involved  with that statutory responsibility so that they can synchronise what the government  is doing and what areas they will like to intervene,” he stated.

According to him, “what it means is that you cannot erect any borehole, without  knowing what the plan of the government is. The project is to sensitize the citizen  in a manner that they will actually assist in delivering their own corporate social  responsibility in relation with the amount of income they are making from that  particular area. You cannot make money from Lagos and invest it in other states.

“It is a development of what we did before. Here, we are not talking about corporate  social responsibility; we are talking about partnership in a manner that companies  in the state can satisfy their own corporate existence. What we want is that  companies in the state should walk along with the state government in a manner that  we will all deliver the projects together.”

Delivering a paper on, Health and Safety Management: A Strategic Tool for Enhancing  Operational Excellence in Infrastructural Projects, Engr. Jamiu Badmos, Managing  Consultant, Finsbury Heinz Limited disclosed that the International Labour  Organisation, ILO, estimated at least 60,000 fatal accidents a year on construction  sites around the world, adding that “that is one in six of all fatal work-related  accidents.”

“The global trade union federation puts the figure much higher at 108,000 with  construction responsible for 30% of all work related accidents. Successful  infrastructure project outcomes are contingent upon robust risk management practices  that support the realisation of project objectives and future benefits in the most  sustainable and economically efficient manner,” he said.

He noted that some universal requirements of good health and safety practice  included that “the work place is subject to regular risk assessment; actions are  taken to mitigate the major risks; a trained and qualified site safety officer is  appointed at with responsibility for maintaining safety; workers receive  information, instructions and training with regard to the risks they may be exposed  to and appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is provided to all workers  free of charge.

“Others are facilities are provided on site for first aid and emergency medical  treatment in the event of an accident; accidents, incidents and near misses are  recorded and reported to relevant authorities and Health and Safety meetings should  be conducted in line with the Health and Safety Plan.”

On risk assessment in work places, he said hazards needed to be identified; decide  who and what might be harmed; evaluate and control risks; record findings and  implement them and review and update assessment if necessary

Badmos identified common risk assessment failures to include “carrying out a risk  assessment to attempt to justify a decision that’s already been made; using a  generic assessment when a site-specific assessment is needed; only considering the  risk from one activity; not involving a team of people in the assessment or not  including employees with practical knowledge of the process/activity being assessed,  among others.

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