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–Pix(above): During the inspection
The House of Representatives Committee on Works has inspected the expansion of the 5.4-kilometre Abuja- Keffi expressway and the dualization of the 220-kilometre Keffi- Akwanga-Lafia- Makurdi Federal roads in the North- Central geo-political zone of the country.
The purpose of the on-the-spot assessment by the lawmakers was to ascertain the level of job done and the compliance level of the contractor handling the project.
The committee which was led on the inspection by the Chairman, Honourable Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, said that it was part of their responsibilities to carry out oversight functions on critical infrastructure projects of the Federal Government in order to give value to the money being spent on projects. He said the Federal Government has spent billions on naira on this particular road project.
Speaking on funding of the project, he said it was a joint funding arrangement between Nigeria and China.
“The project is being executed by China Harbour Engineering Company limited through a Preferential Buyer’s Credit loan from Export -Import Bank of China (CEXIM) with about 85 % of the contract sum, while Nigeria is providing the balance of 15 % counterpart fund of the contract sum,” he explained.
Taking the team on tour of the project, the Chairman said that the project is very important as it connects three states of Nasarawa, Benue and Enugu.
On the project performance, he called on the contractor handling the project to expedite action as the project is of great importance to the nation.
In his response, the ministry’s Project Implementation Unit: Road Sector Development team led by the Senior Project Manager, Engineer Usoh Henry, assured members of the committee that the project would be delivered on good time.
Speaking further on the project, Engineer Usoh said that the project is about 75% completed, reassuring the committee members that the project was going to be delivered by April, 2023.
According to him, the project was divided into two phases in order to ease its implementation. They are, Phase l; which is the dualization of the Keffi- Akwanga- Lafia- Makurdi road and the Phase Il, the dualization of Makurdi-Otukpo- Obollo Afor-Enugu road.
Speaking on quality of job done, Engineer Usoh said that the Contractor was closely supervised as it is mandatory for all multi-laterally funded projects like the road project. He said that an independent consultant was on site to carry out unbiased supervision, monitoring and control of the project, adding that the China EXIM Bank also engaged supervision consultants to play their roles in accordance with international best practices./SHARE THIS