Some contractors of the Federal Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development have protested against the non-payment of the debts owed them for projects that have been completed.
It was learnt that the contractors staged a peaceful protest at the headquarters of the FMLHUD in Abuja on Friday, demanding the minister in charge, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi, pay them.
The contractors stated that they had been informed that while payment for work done in 2014 was paid effected by the ministry, they had not received any money despite the fact that they executed their contracts between 2010 and 2013.
Eyakenyi, however, assured the contractors that payment for work done would be made to them as soon the ministry got funds from the Federal Ministry of Finance.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr. George Ossi, explained that the money that was earlier released by the Finance ministry came with a specific instruction mandating the FMLHUD to only pay contractors who executed jobs relating to the zonal intervention projects in 2014.
Ossi, according to a statement, invited representatives of the contractors for a dialogue in his office, where he appealed to them to state their cases in a calm atmosphere so that the solutions they were seeking could be discussed with decorum.
He also informed the aggrieved contractors that no money had been received from the Finance ministry for the jobs that they did, but assured them that once the money was received, they would be duly informed with a view to paying them.
The permanent secretary added that his office was opened at all times and that he was ready to provide information regarding the contractors’ outstanding balances if and when the need arose.
He advised them to form a group for ease of communication with the ministry.
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