Kayode Fayemi, Ekiti State Governor
Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has said that the country would witness more rapid development if the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) funds were properly expended on the eight areas of focus of the initiative.
The Governor made the submission while receiving a report submitted by a Committee set up to review projects executed under the MDG Conditional Grant Scheme; saying that a sum of One hundred and Seventy-one Billion Naira was allocated to States last year but only Thirty-Four Billion got to the them.
Dr. Fayemi added that the report would be of immense benefit to the office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs which is presently carrying out a review of the initiative; saying that the initiative was a “far-cry” from what it was originally designed for.
“It wasn’t a review to with a view to apportioning blame as you said or punishing contractors that have not lived up to expectation but also learning lesson that will be useful in current implementation of various MDG projects because ultimately these are our projects,” the Governor said of the review.
The Governor said that aside the MDG contribution of #1.2 Billion in the State’s water sector, the state government is expected to spend #2.7 Billion on the sector; stressing that the state government was committed to meeting the high expectation of Ekiti people in providing basic infrastructure.
Fayemi disclosed that though the 2009 MDG focused on procurement and laying of water pipeline, the 2011 MDG would be focusing on the same area because the project was not properly implemented under the 2009 project.
Earlier, the Chairman of the Committee, Mrs Ajoke Oluwasanmi had said that one of the observations of the Committee was that detailed specifications and materials were often not explicitly stated, allowing contractors to use substandard materials with poor output and outcome.
The committee however recommended that there was need for the State to identify her needs and prepare documents for the future so that when there is need for submission of proposal, lucid documents would be made available by the State.
Last modified: March 14, 2012