By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The Ministry of Works and Public Assets have said they will embark on refurbishing up to 250 government quarters across the country. The Minister, Peter Bayuku Conteh, said this work is part of the Le 22 billion budget that they are demanding for the 2020 Financial Year.
Conteh made the announcement during the presentation of their budget on Monday, at the ongoing budget discussion forum.
“We have seen that over the years many government quarters have been dilapidated. And it is our responsibility as a ministry under the New Direction government to rehabilitate those quarters that will accommodate government workers,” Conteh told Politico in an interview.
This project is one among the four priority projects the ministry is aiming at to accomplish in 2020. The three other projects include transforming New England Ville into a modern administrative center, rehabilitate Youyi Building and transform the Works Yard across the country into commercial centers.
“Government is spending a colossal amount of money on rent,” Deputy Minister, Philip Tondoneh said during the presentation to a panel of technical officers from the Ministry of Finance.
The Ministry of Works and Public Asset is responsible to draw policy direction for the country’s infrastructural development. As part of their work they develop policy for road construction and maintenance or construction of government buildings.
On the ministry’s watch, government owned properties and facilities have deteriorated over the decades. Currently, the government has 787 quarters across the country, most of which are in deplorable state. Conteh said all these are problems they are trying to fix by setting up the necessary systems.
“When I took over, the ministry wasn’t organized at all. It was very corrupt. Not only the ministry, but also the sector,” he said.
He added: “One of the things we want to do is to have an M&E unit, a facility management unit, among other things that will all help to boost the performance of the infrastructure sector.”
The Ministry of Works is not the only ministry asking for big money at this year’s budget hearing. The infrastructure sector must compete with education, health and agriculture for very scarce resources in the 2020 budget.
Deputy Minister, Tondoneh said no matter what the Finance Ministry decides eventually, it is important for them to get their allocation early.
“We are therefore asking for a realistic and timely allocation of our budget,” Tondoneh said.
© 2019 Politico Online
