INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT: LAGOS TO ENSURE EFFECTIVE MONITORING, EVALUATION OF PROJECTS
The Lagos State Government has restated its commitment to effective monitoring and evaluation of ongoing projects until they are completed and successfully delivered to the citizenry.
Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Mr. Sam Egube, stated this at a one-day Monitoring and Evaluation stakeholders’ forum organised by his Ministry and held at the Adeyemi-Bero Auditorium, Alausa on Friday.
Egube, who was represented at the event by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Economic Planning and Budget, Aare Adebayo Sodade, said the Y2022 Budget of Lagos State tagged: “Budget of Consolidation”, was designed to substantially complete existing and ongoing infrastructure projects towards the development of the State.
He averred that the Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu led administration is determined to deliver quality projects which are beneficial to residents, adding that the stakeholders’ forum was an avenue for government officials to explain to contractors the modus operandi of the Lagos State Government in the selection and execution of projects
In his words: “With effective monitoring and evaluation of projects in Lagos State, it is assured that infrastructure in the State will be up to international standards”.
In her presentation, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Aramide Adeyoye, spoke on quality assurance, explaining that as a manager, you need to know exactly the components you are overseeing because it would not be easy to supervise what you do not know.
She said: “There must be team monitoring, nobody can lay claim to having a monopoly of power over the execution of a particular project because all the officers involved would have their signatures appended on it, beginning from the planning officer to the Head or Permanent Secretary of the Agency or MDAs”.
The Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr. Fatai Idowu Onafowote, who spoke on the public procurement cycle chart, explained that there is a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), as far as the procurement cycle chart in Lagos State is concerned, adding that for any contract to be awarded in the State, laid down procedures have to be followed.
Onafowote said: “As a contractor, you must understand the terrain of the environment you are going to work in, as well as its social implications and environmental assessment”.
Some of the participants, including stakeholders and contractors, also shared ideas on how to make things work and improve the business and economy of the State.
Other top government officials present at the event include the Chairman, Special Projects on Rehabilitation of Public Schools in Lagos State, Mr. Hakeem Smith; General Manager, Lagos State Public Works Corporation, Engr. Lateef Somide; Permanent Secretary, Office of Infrastructure, Engr. Olufemi Daramola and Permanent Secretary, Budget and Economic Planning, Mrs. Adetutu Adeola Liadi among others.
SOA/TMS/OS
