The federal government has expressed optimism that the expansion of the 5.4km Abuja-Keffi expressway and the dualization of the 220km Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road projects would be completed in April 2023.
Henry Usoh, Senior Project Manager, Road Sector Development Team of the Federal Ministry of Works made this known when the House of Representatives Committee on Works visited the project site as part of their oversight functions.
The $542,144,047.29 project being executed by China Harbor Engineering Company (CHEC) Limited is co-funded by the federal government and a loan facility from the China EXIM Bank Limited. The Nigerian government will provide 15% of the Contract Sum totalling $81,321,607.09 while the EXIM bank is expected to provide $460,822,440.20 representing 85% of the project sum.
According to Mr Usoh, the project was divided into two phases in order to ease its implementation. They were, Phase l; which is the dualization of Keffi- Akwanga- Lafia- Makurdi road and Phase Il, the dualization of Makurdi-Otukpo- Obollo Afor-Enugu road.
On the issue of failed portions especially on section ll, Mr Usoh assured members of the Committee that urgent repairs were going to be carried out as soon as possible since the Contractor had been notified of the failed portions.
Hon. Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, Chairman, House Committee on works in his remarks stated that the project is significant to the nation and mandated all those involved in the execution to address all concerns raised by the committee within seven days.
“This is a significant project connecting three states, from Abuja to Nasarawa to Benue all the way to Enugu state. The project is counter-funded between the China EXIM bank and the federal government. So far we have inspected the project and raised many concerns. We call on the attention of our consultants, contractors as well the ministry of works to address these concerns and report back in seven days. We will make sure that there is no compromise in terms of standard, quality and time delivery,” he said.
The Chairman maintained that all concerns raised must first be addressed by the contractor before more funding can be provided.
“The contractors complained about funding from the budgetary allocation. Before we drop any further money, we will ensure that the contractors address all our concerns.”
On his part, CHEC project manager, Mr Li Qiang Qiang said the contractor was doing its best to ensure the timely completion of the project and urged the government to ensure that funds are made available.
“This project has been ongoing on for 3 years. We have a plan in place and we want to finish this project next year. Currently, we are preparing for the funding to ensure the processing and successful completion of the work.
“We are processing the budget and compensation issues, we have completed around 72% but our payment is 60%. The project is very long, that is why it is very important for us to get a budget each year so that the program can move accordingly”.
Mr Li Qiang assured that all issues raised by the lawmakers would be rectified and the road is expected to last for 15 years requiring maintenance.
“I’m sad to see these sections, the failures should not be happening because we followed the procedures and specifications. We need to go back and analyze what happened with the road, in my opinion, the water level of the area is too high”.
So far, $81,321,607.09 have been paid for the project with the Nigerian government providing $12,198,241.06 and $69,123,366.03 coming from the China EXIM bank. The project which started on the 1st of April 2019 is expected to be completed on the 1st of April, 2023.
Upon completion, the project is expected to ease traffic congestion, enhance transportation and promote economic and trading activities within the North-Central region and Nigeria at large.
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