News Desk
The Minister of Works and Housing, Engr. Dave Umahi, has said that about N7 trillion will be required to fix all the dilapidated federal roads in the country within two years.
The Minister, who gave this budgetary estimate at the weekend during his inspection of the ongoing road and bridge projects in some parts of the South East region of the country, lamented that the hardships being experienced by road users in passing through the bad roads.
He expressed dissatisfaction over the poor performance of the contractor handling the Amanwozuzu, Uzoagba, Eziama Ikeduru, and Mbaise, an 11-kilometre road.
He noted that the contractor was awarded the contract in 2013 but abandoned the job without anything to show for the part payment of N499 million made to them, adding that they came for another payment of N495 million which was turned down.
According to him, the contract had been terminated and called for a redesign and review of the job for the purpose of re-awarding it to another contractor.
The Minister said: “We will forget the part payment already made to the contractor and call for a redesign and re-awarding of the contract.
“I am not impressed by what I have seen on this road, there is nothing to show for the part payment on the road which was awarded since 2013″, he added
Umahi, who was accompanied on the inspection tour by the Federal Controller of Works in Imo State, Engr. Umoren Udoakah and other top officials of the ministry, also visited the 11.26 kilometre Owerri-Aba-Ikot Epkene dualization project, which was awarded to Arab contractors in two phases.
He lauded the company on the quality and level of work so far done by the contractor, noting that the contractor is still owed N600 million.
On the phase two of the project, which is about a 25 kilometre road with a bridge linking Achingali, Obowo in Imo State to Ubakala and Umuahia in Abia state, Umahi urged for improved quality of the job to be done.
The Minister, who noted that the bridge was at the pilling stage while 3-kilometre of the road had already been covered with binding, insisted that henceforth, no road in Nigeria would be handed over without the completion of the folders.
In a similar vein, the Minister gave contractors handling Enugu-Onitsha Expressway 48 hours to rehabilitate the failed portions of the road or have the contract revoked.
He also visited the failed portions on Amansea axis of the road, warning that he would terminate the contracts if they failed to heed the ultimatum or speed up their work on the roads.
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