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Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has said he is working to make great progress in the ongoing N55bn Ndibe Bridge project in Afikpo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State to link up with Calabar Coastal highway, before the rainy season sets in.
He stated this while inspecting the project at the weekend and expressed satisfaction with the pace of work at the site.
Umahi said though only N3bn had been given to the contractor out of about N55bn it would cost to construct the bridge, the project has gone far.
He disclosed that launching of the beams of the bridge which will soon commence, will be by the most sophisticated new method.
He said a crane will be running from the pear cap of the bridge carrying the beams instead of moving on the ground.
The Minister opined that the idea is to finish the entire super structure excluding the beams before May this year. He described the work on the bridge as very innovative, beautiful and neat.
“We are working against the tide. By the time the tide comes, we will have finished what we are doing.
“And the launching of the beams is going to be by the most sophisticated new method. A crane will be running from a pear cap carrying the beam and instead of going on the ground, it will be going on top and you can see the crane and the materials painted.
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“This is about 1.5km of bridge but presently, it is a single carriage bridge because I believe in counting one before you count two. Let’s do even one carriage way and when we come back, we will begin to count two.
“The CGECC contractors have done very well. I am not sure they have been paid over N3bn. The contract is about N55bn and they have been paid only N3bn. This is one of the expatriates that are in partnership with the federal government and I am very sure that they will be paid but they are not waiting for payment and they are moving.
“And so, the idea is to finish the entire superstructure minus the beams before the May tide comes. But this is very innovative, very beautiful and neat work,” Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi State stated.
He urged the people of Afikpo to appreciate President Bola Tinubu by voting for him in next year’s presidential election, saying that they are the highest beneficiaries of federal government projects in the state.
The Minister said in addition to the Ndibe Bridge being constructed in the community, the President was also constructing Tran-Saharan coastal highway in the area which will connect to other states and countries.
“Afikpo people should after praising God every day, the next is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They didn’t vote for us during the last election but I hope they will be wise to vote for us in this coming election because they are the biggest beneficiaries of all the federal government projects in Ebonyi State.
“They have benefited more than any other community. And so, I want them to be warming up to pay good-for-good to them.
“From April this year, we are going to be sending our young engineers in the 36 states and FCT for training. It is called the President Tinubu Engineering Mentorship Programme whereby in every state, we take some people that are engineers, maybe they don’t have work but they have graduated and then take some people that are mechanics and drivers and then, we train them under this kind of gigantic project,” he said.
