THE Ekiti State government has again warned contractors handling various projects in the state to comply with the local content laws of the State especially on the employment of indigenous skilled labourers and professionals to carry out their jobs.
Director General, Bureau of Local Content in Ekiti State, Olalekan Ijidale said the law stipulates that 40% of Ekiti indigene are expected to be employed by the contractors but noticed that majority of the contractors are not complying.
Ijidale who spoke after a visit to Craneburg site noted that his office would not tolerate a situation where contractors engaged by the state would bring in all their skilled labourers and professionals from outside the state saying such is an aberration and would be resisted.
He said:” I am disappointed this afternoon after getting to the site and noticed that only a very few of our youths are engaged to do ridiculous jobs while majority of the workers on site are non indigenes.
” This attitude is against the Local Content law, I have taken my time to meet with contractors and also visit their sites to educate them on this law but unfortunately, they seems not to be ready to comply.
“We see this action as a deliberate affront against government and we will not tolerate it any longer, Ijidale affirmed.
“We have graduates here who are engineers and have relevant skills in construction and so on, if they are not engaged how would they gather experience, recruiting Ekiti indigenous for menial jobs alone is not acceptable, there must be balance.
“Any Contractor found guilty will surely face the consequence”
According to him, the contracts offered to the contractors are financed by the tax paid by the indigenes of the state hance they can not be left unattended to while strangers come from outside to get what belong to them.