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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Works, Engineer Nweze Dave Umahi, has directed a technical team from the ministry to move to the flood-damaged section of the Kano-Maiduguri federal road within Bauchi State, which was cut off by flood after a recent downpour, to evaluate the damage done and report back for the ministry.
He assured that the ministry would procure an emergency solution to the problem to alleviate the attendant inconveniences faced by the road users, especially the people of Malori-Guskuri community in Katagun Local Government Area of Bauchi State, whose source of livelihood has been severely affected by the destruction.
His words: “I’m directing the Director of Highway Rehabilitation to liaise with the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works to immediately deploy some technical people to go and evaluate what we can do over there and it’s very unfortunate that when a job is completed by contractors, we don’t even enjoy the road for five years, and we are back to square one.
“That’s why I’ve been saying that this issue of a one-year liability period is not desirable because every badly executed job can last for one year, but it cannot last for five years. So, we are still going to request the contractor that did the job, Mothercart Limited, to join that team and find out why the road had to cut into two as reported to us today, and that is section three of Kano-Maiduguri road.”
He said this while announcing the termination of section 1 of Kano-Maiduguri road awarded since 2007 to Dantata & Sawoe Limited due to effluxion of time.
The minister gave the directive during a performance review meeting with Dangote Group of Companies Plc, BUA Group of Companies Plc and Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited on the road projects handled under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme in Abuja.
The minister said plans were underway to review the liability period for all federal government projects to ensure durability and value for money.
He highlighted the progress made so far in funding critical projects under the Tax Credit Scheme and called for more concerted efforts by all contractors handling projects under the tax credit scheme in order to complete all the awarded projects on a record time as the projects are within the economic corridors of the nation. He said that going forward, there would be an agreement on milestone completion and timetable for the various ongoing projects being done under the tax credit initiative.
“So, my position as the Minister of Works is that everybody must take responsibility. We will no longer fold our hands and allow the projects we have awarded and even reviewed to continue to linger. Nigerians are suffering on these roads, and President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is doing everything possible, giving the road sector special attention. And so it will be a failure on our side for us to fold our hands and watch contractors linger on these roads without minding the sufferings of the people,” he said
Umahi called for more commitment on the side of all the funding partners, the ministry, the contractors and asked for patience on the side of Nigerians.
“So we call for patience, partnership, and patriotism. The president means well for this nation. We must play our part and this is very important. So to our contractors and to every staff member of the Ministry of Works, and of course to myself, we all must sit up and play our part to support the divine vision of Mr. President to retake our country,” he said.
