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China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Image from Collelectrical.co.nz
The Federal Administrative Commission of Nigeria (FEC) recently approved the maintenance of public buildings, and the demand for construction materials such as wood, pipes, paint, tiles, electrical fittings, windows and tools is expected to increase.
Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who spoke on the importance of the approval , said the scheme was aimed at ensuring that public buildings are protected and maintained to save resources for new projects.
On what the approval means, the Minister said it is a breakthrough in the nation's quest for maintenance culture. He said after decades of agonising about lack of maintenance, the Buhari administration had chosen to act because the records did not indicate that any such policy decision had previously been taken at the Federal level.
The decision was provoked by a memorandum from the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing that challenged the conventional thinking that Nigeria does not have a maintenance culture. The memorandum argued and FEC agreed that maintenance of infrastructure; whether public or private, is not a cultural issue, but an economic one.
The maintenance programme is then developed from these assessments as to what jobs need to be done to restore the building to fitness, what needs to be replaced and what needs to be repaired. This is the basis for the award of the maintenance contract following the existing procurement law.”
He explained that the award of contract would not only drive employment for artisans, but would also drive demand of manufacturing and supply of parts like wood, pipes, paint, tiles, electrical fittings, windows and tools, in addition to those of cleaning items like detergent, polish and varnish.
