Mrs Victoria Ikenchuku, Commissioner in charge of Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Delta, on Tuesday issued a two-week ultimatum to contractors handling MDG projects to complete them or face prosecution.
Ikenchuku gave the directive in Asaba during a meeting with the contractors handling MDG projects in the state.
The commissioner observed that some of the MDG contracts were awarded since 2009 with no significant job done.
Ikenchuku said that the delay was not only hampering access to funds, but also affecting the delivery of services and meeting the MDG targets in the state.
She recalled that the timeline of eight weeks was clearly spelt out for the completion of MDG projects in the letters of contract award.
Ikenchuku noted that after several months, the state had yet to attain 50 per cent completion both at the state and the local government levesl.
She stated that some contractors were still battling with the projects under the 2009 Conditional Grant Scheme (CGS).
The commissioner noted that one of the criteria for states to access the CGS funds was timely completion of projects and programme within each CGS project cycle.
She said: “to this effect, the prospects of Delta State accessing the 2012 CGS funds have been greatly dwindled by the attitude of our contractors.
“This is not acceptable and we will not allow contractors to drag the state backwards.
“On this note, I hereby instruct you to go back to site and complete your projects within two weeks from today.
“Any contractor who fails to adhere to this instruction will have his contract determined and may face prosecution if the level of work executed is not commensurate with the amount released to him or her”.
Responding on behalf of the contractors, Mr Joe Asem attributed the delay to difficulties in accessing funds as well as disturbances of youths in the communities.