The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, on Monday, appealed to contractors handling the East-West road project in the Niger Delta to return to site and complete the job.
The minister made the appeal at a meeting with contractors handling Section (i) to Section (iv) of the project in Abuja.
He noted that the dualisation project, which included 87-kilometre Warri-Kaiama section, 54-kilometre Kaiama-Ahoada section, had suffered neglect for a decade.
Others sections of the project are Ahoada-Port Harcourt, 47-kilometre and 99-kilometre Port Harcourt-Eket.
Mr. Usani decried the delay in completion of the project, saying that the contract was awarded in 2006 and it remained properly unattended to until 2015.
According to him, there is nowhere in the world where a project takes more than a decade for completion; the longer the project, the more expensive it becomes.
He added that there was need for the contractors to return to site as quickly as possible to ameliorate the suffering of the people and boost the economy of the area.
Mr. Usani said that the government was aware of the huge outstanding contract sum being owed the contractors, and stated that there was difficulty in meeting up with such obligations.
He said that the ministry had the responsibility of ensuring that the contractors were mobilised to ensure that the project got value for money.
“We are here today to inform you that we will soon pay the contractors and we don’t expect the job to stop. When money stops, work should be continuous.”
The minister disclosed that the ministry would soon embark on inspection of the road to ascertain the level of work and compliance with standards, adding that no excuse would be entertained by the government.In his response on behalf of the contractors, a Director in Gitto Construction Company, Ephraim Tewolde, commended the minister for his cooperation, adding that the road has experienced setbacks due to poor funding.
Mr. Tewolde also attributed the delay in completion of the project to terrain in the area.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that contract for the 360-kilometre road was awarded at the sum of N582 billion, out of which N276 billion had been disbursed as at the end of 2016.
(NAN)
