By Michael Odiah
The Delta State Commissioner for Justice, Barr Peter Mrakpor has said that the State Government has introduced a five year warranty for projects executed in the state.
The Attorney General stated this on Monday, 14th May, 2018 during his session at the 2018 Ministerial Press Briefing in Asaba, adding that the five years warranty is to help ensure that contractors deliver quality jobs.
Mrakpor said, “this is a formula initiated by Governor Okowa to check the issue of substandard job. So when awarding a contract, the contractor must sign a 5 year warranty. The contractors appealed for 1 year stating retention as their point of discuss, but the Governor refused”, adding that, “if a project fails in 5 years, the contractor must go back to site or be forced back to site at his own cost”.
The Commissioner further disclosed that there is now an operational Public Advisory Unit with the ministry that is accessible only to those that can not afford the services of a lawyer, and just legal advice to those who can afford a lawyer. “We get private lawyers to enroll with us, they give legal advice and can further ascend to mediating. A rich man cannot access these services, for upon filling our forms, we get to know if the person can afford a lawyer, if yes, they just get legal advice, while if you can’t afford a lawyer, we get you a lawyer and then follow it up to ensure that fees are not charged”.
On the increase rate of social vices in the State, Barr Mrakpor said that cultism today amongst minors is encouraged by most parents, alleging that, children who are into cultism, have parents who are also into cultism. “I don’t want to be overly spiritual; it’s generational but the Delta state government is doing its best to reduce the act to the nearest minimum”. He added that minors are taken to a remand home for minors in Sapele and not to prisons.
The Attorney general advocated that the best way to reduce prison congestion is to introduce the Youth Agricultural Entrepreneurs Programme (YAGEP) and Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Programme (STEP) nationwide as evident in Delta state, so as to reduce unemployment. “Instead of building more prisons, I think Government should create more job opportunities like we are doing here in Delta state because when a person is idle and goes ahead to cling to crime which at some point gets jailed, will get released some day and in a couple of months comes back again.”
Mrakpor revealed that every one on death row in the state will be converted to life imprisonment as initiated by the Governor “we are all Deltans; there’s no need to kill anybody”, he stressed.
