Civil Society Action Coalition of Education for All (CSACEFA), has mobilised communities to track N165,450,480 million Universal Basic Education Commission’s (UBEC) projects in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The NGO’s Finance and Administration Manager, Mr Adamu Nathaniel said at a Town Hall Meeting organised by the NGO in Kwoi on Tuesday that the move was to ensure efficient use of government resources.
Nathaniel said that CSACEFA, with support from MscArthur Foundation would track the implementation of UBECs 2014 and 2015 intervention projects in 11 schools in the LGA.
At the course of the meeting, the community leaders thanked UBEC and the state government for expending huge resources to build and equip their schools with needed facilities for quality teaching and learning.
They nonetheless complained that most of the projects executed were of substandard because community leaders are often not consulted nor carried along in the implementation of most of the projects.
One of them, Mr Adamu Sajere, the Village Head of Ankun Daji, urged the government to always consult the community when siting a projects in their community for proper monitoring to ensure quality work.
“In Government Junior Secondary School Ankun for example, storm has blown off the roof less than a year after the school was renovated in 2014 and it has remained without a roof till date.
“The wood used are substandard and some got rotten while other were eaten by termites, “Sajere said.
Also, Ishaku Barnabas, Village Head of Duya, said that most times community leaders just see contractors on site with no idea of what is being constructed or renovated.
“How do we monitor such projects? Sometimes the contractors snubs us when we ask questions, saying it is none of our business and we the community will end up with shoddy jobs, “Barnabas said.
Also speaking, CSACEFA’s Programme Officer, Mr Adeleke Demian-Mary, said that the NGO also realised during monitoring visits to some of the schools that some of the projects were badly done.
Demian-Mary said that while some were excellent, others have completely collapsed even before the facilities were handed over for usage due to poor quality of work.
Responding, the state’s Universal Basic Education Board’s (SUBEB) Technical Officer in the LGA, Mr Daniel Ya’u, agreed that the quality of some of the projects particularly those of 2013/2014 were low.
According to him, the quality of the contracts executed in 2013/2014 were not up to standard because the contractor complained that the contract sum were too little.
“SUBEB is aware of the issue and the board is gradually weeding the bad contractors out and insisting on good quality of job.
“There is a great improvement in the offer of the 2015/2016 intervention projects, and so contractors have no reason to complain or do a shoddy job.”
On his part, Nathaniel advised the community leaders to channel all complains on substandard projects to appropriate authorities such as the local government education authorities and SUBEB.
“If there are issues of substandard, there is no need for violence, you should channel it through the education secretaries and with patience this problem will be solve.
“Just draw the attention of relevant authorities that the contractor is not executing according to what is contained in the Bill of Quantity and the responsive authority will take the needed step to address the anomaly, “he said.
Nathaniel explained that the main goal of tracking UBEC projects in Jaba and other communities was to increase community’s voice in demanding for accountability.
He explained that meeting was organised to discuss issues around UBEC projects in the communities and build synergy among stakeholders for effective implementation of the projects.
He said that the objective of the town hall meeting was to bring all relevant stakeholders together to chart the way forward on the implementation of community intervention projects.
According to him, the meeting will create the needed common ground where community members and duty bearers can collaborate during implementation of UBE projects.
“We brought them together to resolve differences so that they will work as a team to ensure success of the projects.
“We want to see the extent to which these stakeholders will take ownership of UBEC projects, maintain and protect them for the benefits of their children and grandchildren.
“Government is doing its best; the community members need to also need to do its best to protect schools located in their communities, “Nathaniel said.
Also, SUBEB’s Acting Director Social Mobilisation, Malam Aminu Ibrahim, commended the NGO for organising the meeting and urged the community members to protect government facilities located in their area.
The stakeholders at the meeting include community members, the School-Based Management Committees (SBMCs), State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the contractors and Local Government Education Authority.
NAN
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