 |
| Add caption |
The Korean government has protested to the Federal Government over the alleged abandonment of N80million worth of HIV/AIDS equipment it donated to the country.
The equipment was shipped into the country in 2009, but the Federal Ministry of Health has not concluded clearance at the port in the last four years.
The Korean Parliament has also asked for an explanation from the Federal Government.
The Korean government is annoyed because it had in 2010 provided N1.5million to the Federal Ministry of Health to clear the said equipment.
According to investigation by our correspondent, in spite of the fact that the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has trained 12 officers in South Korea between April 12 and 26, 2009 on the management of the equipment, the Federal Ministry of Health is yet to conclude customs clear four years after.
Investigation showed that the equipment had arrived at the port in Lagos in May 2009, but out of the two containers, only one was reluctantly cleared in April 2011, which was 23 months after shipment.
It was learnt that more than 29 letters had been written to the Federal Ministry of Health by the Korean Embassy in Nigeria and the Chief Resident Representative of KOICA in Nigeria, Jung Sang Hoon, to effect the clearance of the equipment but no action was taken.
Findings confirmed that the attention of the National Planning Commission was also drawn to the abandonment of the equipment to prevail on the Ministry of Health to effect clearance in the port.
One of the letters by KOICA to the Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said: “Regarding KOICA sponsored project of “Improvement of Laboratory Infrastructure on HIV/AIDS, I would like to draw your kind attention to the following critical issues which need urgent attention:
“On October 6, 2008, project agreement (Record of Discussion) was signed by the Korea International Cooperation Agency and the Federal Ministry of Health on the Improvement of Laboratory Infrastructure on HIV/AIDS.
“Based upon this agreement on May 26, 2009, KOICA shipped some HIV/AIDS equipment and forwarded the shipping documents to the Ministry which was received by Dr. E. A. Coker, then the Director of Special Duties in your ministry.
“The equipment were expected to be delivered to the hospitals in Kogi and Enugu states. The two containers arrived in Lagos since May 2009, and only one (Federal Medical Centre in Kogi State) container’s customs clearance and inland transportation was made in April 2011 (after 23 months from its arrival), while the other one container for University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu State remains at the Lagos Port as overtime container still waiting for the customs clearance and delivery to the University Teaching Hospital by your ministry.
“To facilitate the customs clearance, KOICA contributed N1.5milion which was handed over to Dr. E. A. Coker on March 3, 2010.
“Despite all actions taken by KOICA for early conclusion of the clearance of the remaining container, no actual actions were taken by the Ministry, causing the efforts of KOICA wasted and the project purpose of assisting the HIV/AIDS victims failed.
“In this regards, you are cordially requested to take immediate actions for the customs clearance on an emergency basis and inform us of the result.”
In a separate letter to the Office of the Minister, National Planning Commission on October 18, 2013 by its Chief Resident Representative, Jung Sang Hoon, said the National Assembly of Korea has raised issues on the apathy of the Federal Government to the donation.
The letter reads in part: “I may also inform that the Parliament is now asking, even to date, why the Korean people’s donation is not delivered to the Nigerian people and what actions are taken or to be taken to resolve the issues.
“Accordingly, on an urgent basis, I would like to request Your Excellency to reply us after taking emergency measures to prevent any more delay, in particular, in consideration of the following facts:
•The responsibility of prompt customs clearance of the donated items in the land of Nigeria goes to the Government of Nigeria as clearly stated in our signed official document.
•That some items could be out of use due to the extreme demurrage in Lagos; and
•The KOICA office has already provided funding to the Federal Ministry of Health (N1.5million) for the said customs clearance of the items on March 3, 2013.
•“If the Nigerian government has no budget allocation to clear the said issue for the year 2013 whatsoever, in order to avoid further delay, the KOICA office is ready to request for KOICA’s further Headquarters’ endorsement to make KOICA’s prepayment for demurrage charge provided that the Nigerian government request us in writing focusing on the amount and actions required for KOICA to immediately clear the issue after expressing her commitment of refunding, to KOICA in 2014 as soon as possible.”
No comments:
Post a Comment