From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
Minister of Works, Engineer Nweze Dave Umahi has called on the cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of their product to N7000 failing which he would report them officially to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
This, he said, is in view of the fact that the price of dollar has equally reduced drastically and the cost of petrol is coming down and efforts are being made by the president to fix the road.
“I’m happy that the policies of Mr. President, are working. Today, a dollar is about N1,400. And let me use the opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the cost of cement.Our contractors have called and complained that they wanted to move back to asphalt. We are using this medium to tell the cement manufacturers that at the time, the dollar was almost N2,000, they increased cement from N7,500. Why should cement be selling for N9,500? We are requesting cement manufacturers to bring down the cost of cement to N7,000. If after one week they don’t do that, I have to complain officially to Mr. President” he stated.
In a statement, the minister directed that the construction of Enugu-Onisha dual-carriageway must be completed by May 10, 2025, saying that MTN (who provides the funding) shall be held responsible should the road fail after construction on account of shoddy job by the contractor.
Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Works and the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works, had extolled the stance of the Federal Ministry of Works on the policies that would not only fast-track job execution but also guarantee value for money and quality project outcome. They urged the contractor to co-operate with the new paradigm under the Renewed Hope administration and work towards delivering the Enugu-Onisha dual-carriageway on a record time so that the president could commission it for public use.
The representative of MTN in his vote of thanks expressed the readiness of MTN in working towards realising the delivery of the project within the agreed timeline.. ENDS.