January 27, (THEWILL) – The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has conducted physical inspections of ongoing multi-billion-naira lifesaving projects in Maiduguri and its environs.
The exercise, conducted by members of the commission’s Governing Board and Management Council, includes the Medical Central Store, Neuropsychiatric hospital, dental hospital, DSS clinic and three-bedroom bungalow, among others.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the tour, the Managing Director of the Commission, Dr Mohammed Alkali, said the commission is determined to ensure the completion of the ongoing projects to stimulate economic activities and enhance security in the region.
He declared, “We are taking them gradually, step by step. We are not only more concerned about the health centres, education, and institutional development but also our security agencies and we try to assist them in terms of what they require.
“Examining the central medical stores, we initially spent nearly half a billion naira, considering the inflation rate at the time. Unfortunately, due to current inflation, the cost has now exceeded a billion naira just for the upgrades to the store, power grid, and facilities.
“We are all working towards the same purpose. The commission is committed to seeing all our security agencies perform well, and if there are any areas to intervene to make them do their job efficiently and properly, we are here for them.
Alkali hinted that the commission is ready to construct six world-class hospitals in each state of the northeast, considering its teeming population, to enhance neo-maternal mortality.
“Well, before I start, what we did today is just have a snap tour of our projects here, those are completed, to be completed, and what to do next in terms of handing over to the beneficiaries.
“We inspected mfs hospital, it is fantastic and nice, we are going to build world-class hospitals like that in each state of the region.
“I’m very happy that most of the projects are at the completion level. You have seen them and the quality, we are impressed. So the next thing is to see how quickly we are going to hand over to the beneficiaries so that they can benefit from it as planned”, he noted.
