AFTER encountering hitches in the governments concession programme, Infrastructure Concession Regulation Commission (ICRC) has begun moves to fashion out a new guideline for the Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme. Recently, controversies have erupted on the concession arrangement put in place by the federal and some state governments, especially, the communities where such projects are to be executed or claims by the experts on grey areas in the arrangement. For instance, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, that was also concession to Messrs Bi-Courtney Highway Services Limited (BHSL), in 2009, has also suffered unbridled criticism. The Commission in its annual report and statement of account presented in Abuja by the Chairman of its Governing Board and former Head of Interim National Government, Chief Ernest Shonekan issued in December last year blamed the Federal Ministry of Works for not doing a thorough job before signing the concession agreement for the N89 billion reconstruction work on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The Commission then, accused the ministry of hastily signing the concession agreement without a detailed survey, cost and clear risk allocation structure of the contract. These factors according to the agency are responsible for the delay in the project taking off. The 110-kilometre expressway was handed over to the firm for major reconstruction, expansion and modernisation, with a special consideration period of 25 years under the DBOT scheme. According to Shonekan, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is one of the legacy projects that have been under development before the inauguration of the Board of ICRC. The ICRC received a request from the Federal Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Development in respect of the concession of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which the Commission reviewed and suggested that a detail condition survey needed to be done to ascertain the cost of the project. The ministry nonetheless went ahead to sign the concession agreement despite the absence of any cost and a clear allocation structure, he lamented. He; however, reassured, the Commission will work closely with the ministry to ensure that the project is successfully implemented and managed, stressed further that the ICRC had been and would continue to promoting, facilitating, supporting and coordinating the initiation and development of a sound public-private-partnership (PPP) arrangement to ensure that principles of good governance were applied to all of the functions that form part of the PPP process. However, ICRC Director-General, Dr. Mansur Ahmed, an engineer, while fielding questions from journalists in Lagos recently, confirmed that the Commission would soon issue out the guidelines for the PPP arrangement. Speaking on the backdrop of the agitation by the people on the activities of these private firms on the allegation that they were more pre-occupied with profit making rather than providing services for the people, Ahmed said that the commission would bring together the various firms including other stakeholders to ensure that all the grey areas were resolved. According to him, concession was the most effective way to provide and improve on infrastructure. Concession is not a contract that says do this and I will pay that. It is either government pays for the job that needs to be done or the public pays indirectly. If government pays, it is contract, but if public needs to pay indirectly, its concession. But because government cannot fund these infrastructure alone, the involvement of PPP has become imperative, noting that 10 years ago, Dubai was just ordinary desert, but today, the city has become one of the world most business activities, with the huge involvement of concession initiatives. The ICRC boss also explained the implication of upsetting the activities of the concession firms in view of funds they might have injected on their projects. While we realise the need to protect the interests of the public, that of the concession firms that put down their money for project execution should also be protected.
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