Works minister, Umahi inspects East-West roads, gives ultimatum to contractors to complete projects

By David Usman, Abuja

The Minister of works, David Umahi has inspected sections of the East-west road and however, gave a matching order to contractors to complete the projects. 

The Nations News Nigeria reports that the minister, Umahi inspected the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway and Bodo – Bonny Road.

He expressed satisfaction with the quality of work on the East-West Road, Section III (Eleme Junction – Onne Junction), and further directed the Contractor, Messrs Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) to deploy more resources to hasten the pace of work or face re-scoping and re-award of the contract.

The Minister gave the warning, while inspecting the progress of work done by contractors on the roads project. 

He reminded the contractor that he has up to the end of April, 2025 to deliver a section of the carriageway.

Umahi, began the inspection of the ongoing road projects in the South East and South South geopolitical zones on Tuesday, 7th January, 2024 with the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway, Section III (Umuahia – Aba). 

He applauded the contractor, Messrs Arab Contractors (Nig.) Ltd. on the quality of work, but instructed them to deploy in two more sites to speed up the construction and, most importantly, meet the set dateline.

The Minister was also on Section IV (Aba – Port Harcourt) of the same alignment being handled by Messrs China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC). 

He expressed displeasure over the slow pace of work, noting that they have only been able to access seven billion naira out of the twenty -One billion naira provided for the project, last year.

The Minister further instructed the Federal Controller of Works (FCW), Rivers State to issue a warning to the contractor, promising to terminate it, if there are no improvements in the tempo of work. 

Umahi, equally visited the Bodo-Bonny Road, a critical component of the South-South zone’s infrastructure development, which according to reports is a 2-lane road with hard shoulders, 17 bridges spanning 3,200 meters and reinforced concrete pavement on Bonny Island. 

He stressed the urgency to meet deadlines, emphasising that all Federal contractors must intensify their efforts to ensure the timely realization of projects, in line with the Federal government’s resolve to enhance infrastructure and transportation as enablers of growth, succinctly captured in the Renewed Hope Agenda. 

According to him: “We all need to work together – government, contractors and the general public towards ensuring that deadlines are met. No contractor should collect government funds and fail to deliver on their promises. Henceforth, we will be more observant and take necessary actions towards ensuring the successful completion of these projects,” he stated.