‘Why construction of N15bn power institute delayed’
Dumped sand and loose soils are hampering the construction of the N15 billion permanent place of the National Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN) in Abuja, the agency has said.
Speaking during an inspection tour by the Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, at the Idu industrial layout, Abuja, recently, the Director General of NAPTIN, Engr. Reuben Okeke, disclosed that work was progressing at a snail speed at the site.
He said: “When we started the main building, we realised that before we could get to the real soil we had to go down about 4.5metres and now that we are embarking on infrastructure like roads and drainages, we discovered that 70 percent of the land has this dumped useless soil.”
Okeke, who also disclosed that the original cost for the project was about N15billion, said around N2.4bn has been invested already in the construction process, adding that it would be odd to think of leaving the site for another place.
He said: “The fact still remains that to remove this dump won’t cost as much because anywhere they would want to give us, we would have to start the investment from the scratch. So it is a better option to find a way of removing this.”
He noted that they would write to the people that left the dump to come and excavate it to the approved place of about one kilometre from the neighbouring water treatment plant, where the dump was packed from about seven years ago.
Meanwhile, Nebo, while addressing newsmen during the inspection, said power is the key to industrial revolution in Nigeria, especially as the country has emerged the number one economy in Africa.
He commended the efforts of NAPTIN to develop infrastructure, concept and capacity, assuring that “Federal Government will continue to empower NAPTIN so that its dreams are realised.”