Breaking News

FG Demands Speedy Completion Of 10-Storey NUPRC Hedaquarters

Ololade Omosan-Agie

The federal government has urged Julius Berger, the contractors handling “The Barrel”, the multi-billion-naira new office building belonging to the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC), to speed up work on the project.


The government explained that this should be done in time before President Muhammadu Buhari’s exit from power next year as earlier agreed.


Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, who led a team to assess the level of work, along with the Chief Executive of the NUPRC, Mr. Gbenga Komolafe, stated that although the government was satisfied with the quality of work, but the pace had been unnecessarily slow.


Located at the strategic Central Business District of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, the 10-storey building which was approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2020, was initially scheduled for completion in 24 months.


It spans 4,150 sqm with the main building itself occupying a total ground floor area of approximately 48,400 sqm, comprising a basement and a penthouse.


Sylva noted that although some progress had been made, it was important for the project to be completed before May 29 next year, stressing that the 36 per cent work already carried out should have been higher by now.
“In 2020, there was a time frame that was presented to the FEC that this project was going to be completed in 24 months, counting from the time. That means that you have done more than half of the time that was given to us by the FEC.


“From the time it passed through FEC and the actual laying of the foundation is a little bit blurry. Coming to see where the project is at now is even more disturbing. I can see that a lot of work is going on and the quality of work, but you must pay attention to speed,” he told the contractors.


Reminding the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr. Lars Richter, that the nation was in an electioneering era, he stressed that the intention was for Buhari to inaugurate the project which he started, adding that the projection was that the construction would get to the roofing level at the end of this year.


“Then I can see very clearly that this project is not meant for the president to commission. But that definitely is not the intention, so I want you to bear this in mind and to do everything that you think is possible within the constraints of your professional ethics to ensure that this project gets to completion within the timeframe that was approved by FEC.

“The quality is good and it’s a world-class, but we are a little bit worried about the speed and if you can do something about the speed, then we can meet the schedule,” he added.

Also speaking, Komolafe, lauded the federal government for approving the project, stressing that it would enhance productivity as well as create an enabling environment for growing the oil and gas industry.

“It is a realisation that a good environment is a driver for improved productivity and it creates an enabling environment for the work that we do. On our part, we will fulfil our own obligations, which is the government’s obligations.

“We will ensure that the project is completed within schedule. We will continue to monitor the contractors to ensure that the project is actually completed on time and within the lifetime of this administration,” he stated.

Richter, explained that there were a number of challenges, as the client chose a very good design, which it said also means that it is very complicated.

About Editor

Check Also

Rewane’s ‘four big shortages’ turn logic on its head

Susceptible to critique, accomplished banker-cum-administrator Bismarck Rewane was on Channels Television recently to analyse how …

Leave a Reply