The Abia State Government has urged contractors handling the execution of its projects to adhere strictly to standard practice in order to deliver quality projects to the state.

The Director General of the Abia State Projects Implementation Bureau (ASPIB), Mr Onyinye Nwosu, gave the charge while speaking during the closing of a two-day capacity-building workshop on quality assurance, professional site supervision, and improved project delivery. The workshop was organised by the state government for contractors and other stakeholders in project execution in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and held in Umuahia.

“All we’re doing here is to build the capacity of procurement entities as well as vendors to make sure that they deliver quality products or quality projects to the state.

“The charge is, take the learnings, go back, become advocates, like disciples, go out there, spread the news and start being the quality champion.

“We expect these people, after the end of workshop, each and every one of them; contractors, participants from Abia, will now be quality champions in different MDAs.

“It becomes organic and it penetrates the fabric of the organisation and we see policy drive,” Mr Nwosu stated.

The Director General also explained that the training was designed to strengthen the processes that guide government projects from conception to completion.

He further charged participants to take the knowledge gained during the workshop back to their respective organisations and serve as advocates for quality in public service, thereby ensuring that high standards are sustained across government institutions.

He noted that the workshop began with a focus on the project initiation phase, where participants examined the key processes involved in project scoping and planning, to ensure that projects are properly structured from the outset in order to prevent costly mistakes that often emerge during the execution stage.

He stated that the bureau is working to re-engineer the operational culture within government institutions to ensure that quality delivery becomes a permanent standard in Abia State, stressing that quality project delivery requires collaboration among all stakeholders involved in project implementation.

A participant, Oki Isaac, described the training as highly beneficial to professionals in the construction and building industry.

He was of the view that the seminar has highlighted the importance of quality control and structured planning in construction projects, while also exposing certain gaps that occur when quality assurance processes are not clearly defined. (Saturday Sun)