The Minister gave the directions while receiving consultants and contractors who paid him a courtesy call in his office on Friday, according to Odutayo Oluseyi, Deputy Director and Head of Public Relations Unit.
Messrs. CNEEC-Sinohydro collaboration is the contractor for the 700MW Zungeru Hydroelectric Power Project’s Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC).
The Minister assured the contractors of the Federal Government’s determination to overcome the problems they experience in performing their tasks, including concerns about security, COVID 19, cost adjustment due to excess work outside the contracted sum, and the delay in money delivery by China Exim Bank.
Aliyu also informed the contractors about the Ministry of Power’s efforts, via the Ministry of Finance, to resolve the issue of opening an escrow account in a commercial bank, as required by the Subsidiary Loan Agreement with Exim Bank of China, which contradicts the government’s current policy of transferring government accounts in all commercial banks to the Treasury Single Account (TSA).
While praising the contractors’ presentation, the Honourable Minister urged them to reach the project’s December 28, 2021 deadline, promising them that all obstacles to its completion would be addressed.
Earlier in his presentation, Dr. JBO Adewumi of Coyne et Bellier (Tractebel) / Decrown consultancy firm stated that the project’s overall percentage of completion is estimated to be around 90%. He asked for a swift resolution to the issues raised.
The Zungeru hydroelectric facility is located on the Kaduna River, 8 kilometers upstream from its confluence with the Gumna River in Niger State’s Rafi Local Government Area. This is around 20 kilometers northeast of Zungeru, 25 kilometers southeast of Tegina, 43 kilometers northwest of Minna, and 77 kilometers downstream of the Shiroro power plant.
