NDDC to Address Issue of Compensation for Right of Way for Projects

By Sylvester Idowu in Warri

The Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere, has pledged to urgently address the issue of compensation for right of way for its development projects in the Niger Delta region.

Ekere gave the assurance when a delegation from the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) paid him a courtesy visit at the commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt. The NDDC Executive Director Projects, Mr. Samuel Adjogbe, and some directors of the commission joined Ekere in receiving the delegation.

The NDDC chief executive officer, who remarked that the issue of compensation had brought a lot of complaints from communities and project consultants, blamed the problem on inadequate provision in contracts for the payment of compensation.

Ekere said: “The fund is always a bit low so that by the time a consultant finishes evaluation and brings a report, you find out that what is in the contract is not adequate to pay compensation.”

He stated that the Public Procurement Act made it very cumbersome for the review of contract sums and “that is one of the problems we have had in payment of compensations and settling of fees to consultants”.

Details later…