Askia performs groundbreaking for DESOPADEC Tower ~ Truth Reporters

12 July 2020   |   8:07 am

Managing Director of the Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Bashorun Askia Ogieh, yesterday, performed the groundbreaking a 4-storey office building complex for the commission.

The office building named DESOPADEC Towers is located along the Warri-Sapele road head office of the agency.

The groundbreaking which was part of activities to commemorate the one year anniversary of the current board was attended by some members of the board.

In his remarks during the ceremony, the DESOPADEC helmsman, expressed delight at the formal commencement of the project which he said is essentially designed to address the problem of office accommodation for staff of the commission. 

Speaking further, he stated that the project concept, from architectural design to structural engineering and ancillary requirements, was done by the in-house technical team of the commission adding that the feat has changed the hitherto jaundiced perception of the professional staff for which he is so proud.

It will be recalled that the DESOPADEC boss and his team on Friday had an interactive session with staff of the commission to hint them on the project which he said had received the approval of the state Governor.

Speaking on the funding of the project during the meeting, Chief Askia had explained that the start-off fund for the project was the proceeds of a dedicated account from absentee staff as revealed by the biometric data capture.

He pointed out further that in its bid to bring sanity into the system by ensuring that some staff do not perpetually take their duties for granted through job truancy, double job, non-commitment and so forth, the previous board of which he was a principal member embraced the biometric data capture for all staff to monitor their dedication to duty and be certain that staff did in fact earn and deserve their salaries and sundry allowances.

The fallout of that exercise according to him, had undoubtedly been fraught with resistance, petitions, bags of complaints, threats, protests, including sponsored ones adding that the accrued funds harvested from these infractions by staff over time have been lodged in a dedicated bank account.

He explained that one of the issues that had remained compelling for the board was the challenge of office space to accommodate some staff, preferably under one corporate vicinity stressing that this is particularly so, as staff at the Swamp Road office have nicknamed that section as Sambisa forest, purportedly implying that they were always forgotten by management.