…Umahi furious over review of East-West Road contract from N44bn to N144bn, expresses disappointment over road failure
By Hillary Asemota
Even after gulping N71 billion, the Minister of Works Engr. David Umahi, has expressed disappointment over the shabby East-West Road constructed by Setraco even as he said that “The road is full of pot holes, the road has completely gone down.
Expressing disappointment, he objected to review of the initial contract sum from N44 billion to N144 billion.
He said, “Apart from the beautiful bridge you have built, the road has completely gone down, project manager tell your team to meet me in Abuja on Monday to tell me what has caused the failure on the road.
“I do not accept it is overloading truck, our roads are not properly being constructed and I demand that these roads must be properly constructed, it is a fight that Nigerians must win and President Bola Tinubu must win this fight for the sake of the Nigerians to truly enjoy the dividends of democratic governance.
The disclosure was made during his continuous assessment from Abuja, through Kogi, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa up to Port Harcourt in Rivers State through the famous much talked about East-West Road to inspect the progress of work on the highway by himself on Tuesday the 19th of September,2023.
The Minister said: “I have invited all the Directors of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) with their engineers from Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom, they should be able to attend to the small failures and redeem all the places that failed on the road and I will hold a meeting with Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) Managing Director this evening to find out how we can collaborate on this road”
On the East West Road, he said he had discussed with the Edo State Governor that the East-West Road passed through his state and that was what is causing the traffic jams and hold up, he said they have to design a bye pass, so that the heavy trucks can stop, moving through the town, it is by so doing that the gridlock can be stopped and business activity in the state can improve.
Umahi said “We have to look at our constituency projects to see how our constituency projects can be meaningful and impactful and I will be discussing this with the leadership of the House of Representative and the Senate “
While berating SETRACO construction company working on the East West Road the Minister said “The gimmicks the contractors are using is excuse of overloading,
I am passing A VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE on the construction of this road, I won’t certify anything on this road, the road has failed and it is not acceptable to us.