The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) has been applauded by the Minister of Health, Prof Isaac Adewole, for its readiness to partner with Federal Government to reduce cost of construction and ensuring compliance with best practices.
Prof Adewole, during a meeting with a delegation from the Institute led by their President, Mrs Mercy Iyortyer in Abuja, reaffirmed that government was not planning to build new Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs) but to rehabilitate existing ones.
He said it would not be in the interest of the country to start building new PHCs while there were adequate number of PHCs across the country; what was important according to the Minister, was to rehabilitate the existing ones, make them functional, providing care 24hours daily with all the necessary facilities in place.
He maintained that it would save cost and time to rehabilitate the existing ones rather than constructing new ones. “The rehabilitation work is on-going in phases and the 1st phase is the rehabilitation of a total of 109 PHCs covering each Senatorial District in the country.”
While speaking earlier, Mrs Iyortyer said that the essence of their visit was to partner with the Federal Ministry of Health on the 10,000 PHCs project recently announced.
“We wish to request for collaboration or partnership between your Ministry and our Institute in the realization of your objectives, particularly in the area of efficient cost management to achieve realistic costing, project cost monitoring and evaluation, and overall project management of construction projects in your ministry including its Parastatals and Agencies.”
Mrs Iyortyer said that engaging the surveying practicing firm registered with the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors (NIQS) and Quantity Surveyors Board of Nigeria would help the Ministry to address the issues of quacks and non- conformity to ethical standard and would also save the Ministry money for further infrastructural development.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale