The Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman, has identified the ongoing legal challenges with the Sunrise Power and Transmission Company Limited (SPTCL, a former contractor that handled the Mambilla Hydro Electric Power Project as the major hindrance to the take off of the project.
Despite the challenges experienced in the implementation, Mamman assured stakeholders that the Federal Government will not relax its efforts to deliver the projects.
A statement issued in Abuja on Thursday by the Special Adviser, Media and Communications to the minister, Aaron Artimas, quoted him as speaking when he hosted the management team of the Chinese firm, China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company, handling the project.
He said: “At this juncture, the government is in the process of finalising settlement terms leading to an amicable arbitration, so that the project can take off in earnest. Concurrently, President Muhammadu Buhari had directed the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority , NSIA, to review the progress so far and carry out value engineering of the project in pursuit of optimised implementation and delivery.
“As it is, the government investment outfit has been given three months to submit a comprehensive report detailing the findings of the value engineering and also provide recommendations to move the project forward’’.
The minister disclosed that as part of the process of acquisition of the land, the Ministry of Power had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Taraba state government.
The Project Delivery Committee (PDC) Chair, Engr. Faruk Yabo, while giving some insights into the take off of the project, said the ministry had N200m to the training of junior and mid level artisans with a view to ensuring the availability of manpower for the project.
The committee chair emphasised the ministry’s desire to follow through on smooth uninterrupted implementation.
Earlier, the Vice President of the China Gezhouba Group International Engineering Company, Mr Yuan Baoyi, who led the team, gave assurances that his company was ready to mobilise, once all issues regarding financing, land acquisition and arbitration were settled.
