Nebbi officials refuse to commission classroom block over shoddy work

Nebbi, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Nebbi District officials on Thursday blocked the commissioning of a multi-million classroom block at Jupangira primary school citing shoddy work.

The decision came after the district officials led by Emmanuel Urombi, the LCV Chairperson, and Robert Abak, the Nebbi Resident District Commissioner (RDC) had been invited to commission the newly constructed classroom block in Jupangira sub-county.

However, on inspecting the building, the district officials found some defects on the floor of the classroom and unpainted pillars, something that raised their suspicion of possible shoddy work.

Emmanuel Urombi, the Nebbi LCV Chairperson who declined to commission the building, accused the contractor Ongeowun Business Solutions Limited of poor works. He further directed that the contractor fix the construction defects on the structures within a week before the officials commissioning can be done.

Robert Abak, the Nebbi RDC tasked the district engineer and the district education officer to ensure the contractor corrects the defects to ensure quality standard work is accomplished.

However, Sarah Seninde, an Engineer attached to Nebbi district Local governments assured the leaders that the construction defects will be fixed by the contractor since he has fully exhausted the project funds. Seninde described the defects as minor, noting that the floor defects can be fixed by hacking and re-screeding the floor by the contractor.

Records from the district engineering department indicate that Ongeowun Business Solutions Limited was awarded the contract to among others construct a three-unit classroom block at Jupangira Primary School worth 110 million shillings.

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URN