The federal government has threatened to arrest Chinese engineers working with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the construction company handling the Aba-Port Harcourt road for using poor quality materials for the project.
Issuing the threat after inspection of the Aba section of the road on Sunday, Minister of Works, David Umahi, expressed anger over the company’s use of old binders for the construction work whereas the federal government paid for new binders.
He ordered the company to start repairing the road from yesterday, and also remove the old binders and replace them with the new ones the federal government paid for, warning that failure to adhere to comply would leave him with no other choice than to get them arrested and have all their contracts in Nigeria terminated.
“The site (Aba section) handled by CCECC, they should issue them 14 days notice of termination of this job. After 14 days, they fail to mill out the binder and replace it properly, they have to initiate it, they have to commit to doing that, even if they’re going to do it during the dry season, they have to maintain the ones that they have done and put it in writing that they’re going to mill out the binder at their own cost and then be able to put a new binder which we have paid for. If they don’t do that, I’ll shut down all their projects in Nigeria.
“So, the notice of termination must be issued before Wednesday and I must publish it, so that the efforts that the federal government is putting in, nobody is going to sabotage it. We will publish all the monies we gave to CCECC on this project. If from tomorrow (Monday) they don’t get to start amending this, I’ll come back and I will arrest the Chinese people that are on this project because they have taken the money, so they have to maintain these places.
When I was here about three weeks ago, I begged them to maintain this mess and they didn’t do anything about it. Now, it is developing; and very soon, vehicles will start falling and people will start dying and nobody will call them. So if they don’t do it, I’ll get them arrested”, he warned.
The works minister, Dave Umahi, announced the termination of the Port Harcourt section of the same road also being constructed by CCECC due to the company’s poor handling of the work in doing binder without putting shoulder and wearing.
He said the section would be given to another company to construct.
“This job, 43 kilometers, from Port Harcourt to Aba, is an inherited project. Since we came on board, we’ve been doing everything, putting in funds to see how we can finish one carriageway.
So we started working with CCECC on this one carriageway, using concrete to do the inner shoulder and the outer shoulder so as to ensure the road lasts while they’re using asphalt to do the 7.3 carriageway. Their method of construction is been a very serious source of concern, where you will do binder over a stretch of 30 kilometers and you’re not putting wearing and we have issued warnings to CCECC more than 20 times.
We told them the implication of putting binder without putting shoulder and without putting wearing. If you get to Port Harcourt end which they did about two years or thereabout, the entire road has almost totally failed and we’ve been writing them to maintain this road but they have refused.
So I have to take responsibility and take decision. The Port Harcourt bound is de-scoped. It’s no longer going to be done by CCECC. I’ll direct the ministry of works to scout out for very qualified indigenous contractors to handle the Port Harcourt bound. It should be a contractor that will start work immediately while we source for funds for them”, he said.
Meanwhile, Umahi has directed the Julius Berger, the company constructing the Bodo-Bonny coastal highway, to include the installation of close circuit television (CCTV) cameras and solar light along the highway to enhance security.
He also expressed a desire to have trees planted by the sides of the road to improve the aesthetics and green effects of the coastal road.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the project in Monday, the works minister said the installation of CCTV cameras, solar light and planting of trees along the Bodo-Bonny highway would not attract extra cost but would be funded from the contingencies approved for the project.
“I want this project to have solar light along the shore embarkment. I’m going back to check what the contingency funds look like because we’re not going to expand the cost by even a Kobo. But if we have reasonable cost of contingency, we use it to plant trees and also put solar light CCTV. And we’ll also see if we can get one or two provisions for relieve stations where people can park and where we will stay and monitor the CCTV because the security of this place is very important”, he said.
Umahi, who disclosed that each kilometer of the road was worth N7.4billion, expressed satisfaction with the quality and pace of work on the Bodo-Bonny road and commended Julius Berger, the contractor, for its effort.
The project manager for Julius Berger on the project, Tim Neppert, assured of his company’s commitment towards delivering quality work on the project and thanked the minister of works, Umahi, and the federal government for making adequate provisions for the project.
At the Eleme section of the Eket-Port Harcourt bound East-West road, the works minister, Umahi, commended the contractors, RCC, for speeding up the pace of work.
He however assured that all ongoing road projects in the Niger Delta must be ready for commissioning the first quarter of next year.
Blessing Ibunge in Port Harcourt
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