.. Mulls Review of Contractors’ Liability Period
The Federal Government has terminated the section1 of the Kano- Maiduguri Road contract due to effluxion of time having remained undone since it was awarded to Dantata&Sawoe Ltd in 2007, 17 years ago. This announcement was made on Friday by the Minister of Works, Engr. Nweze David Umahi.
In a related development, the Minister has assured the Bauchi State Governor of immediate intervention on the flood damaged section of the Kano- Maiduguri federal road within Bauchi State that was cut off by flood after a heavy downpour recently.
As part of immediate measures, he has directed a technical team from the Ministry to move to the spot to evaluate the damage done and report back for the Ministry to procure an emergency solution to the problem to alleviate the attendant inconveniences faced by the road users, especially the people of Malori-Guskuri community in Katagum Local Government Area of Bauchi State whose source of livelihood has been severely affected by the destruction occasioned by flood.
He said, “I’m directing the Director of Highway Rehabilitation to liaise with the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Works to immediately deploy some technical people to go and evaluate what we can do over there and it’s very unfortunate that when a job is completed by contractors, we don’t even enjoy the road for five years, and we are back to square one.
“That’s why I’ve been saying that this issue of a one-year liability period is not desirable because every badly executed job can last for one year, but it cannot last for five years.
“So we are still going to request the contractor that did the job, Mothercat Ltd, to join that team ( the Ministry’s technical team) and find out why the road had to cut into two as reported to us today, and that is section three of Kano-Maiduguri road.”
He announced the termination of section 1 of Kano-Maiduguri Road awarded since 2007 to Dantata & Sawoe Ltd due to effluxion of time.
Speaking during a performance review meeting with Dangote Group of Companies Plc, BUA Group of Companies Plc and Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd on the road projects handled under Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme held at the Ministry’s headquarters, Mabushi -Abuja on 9th August 2024, the Honourable Minister said plans were underway to review the liability period for all federal government projects to ensure durability and value for money.
He highlighted the progress made so far in funding critical projects under the Tax Credit Scheme and called for more concerted efforts by all contractors handling projects under the tax credit scheme in order to complete all the awarded projects in record time as the projects are within the economic corridors of the nation.
He said that going forward, there would be an agreement on milestone completion and timetable for the various ongoing projects being done under Tax Credit.
“So, my position as the Minister of Works is that everybody must take responsibility. We will no longer fold our hands and allow the projects we have awarded and even reviewed to continue to linger.
“Nigerians are suffering on these roads, and President BolaAhmedTinubis doing everything possible, giving the road sector special attention.
“And so it will be a failure on our side for us to fold our hands and watch contractors linger on these roads without minding the sufferings of the people.”
He called for more commitment on the side of all the funding partners, the ministry, and the contractors and asked for patience on the side of Nigerians.
He said, ” So we call for patience, partnership, and patriotism. The President means well for this nation.
We must play our part and this is very important. So, to our contractors and to every staff member of the Ministry of Works, and of course to myself, we all must sit up and play our part to support the divine vision of Mr. President to retake our country.”
The following projects are handled on Tax Credit, and some of them have suffered delays due to obsolete prices, but all such projects are being reviewed to get these contractors to increase their pace of work. The projects are:
- Dangote – the 35 km Apapa-Owonronshoki Expressway in Lagos State, the 38 km section of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road dualization, the 49.577km Dikwa-Gamboru-Ngala road, Borno State, the construction of Nnamdi Azikiwe road (western bypass) in Kaduna State, the 49.153 km Bama – Banki road in Borno State, the reconstruction of 105km Obelle-Ilaro-Papalanto-Shagamu Road dualization, the reconstruction of 54.239km Deep Seaport in Lagos State, the 65.5 km Afikpo-Okigwe road in Ebonyi and Imo States being procured and the 53.7km of side lanes for the Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos State being procured;
- BUA – the 20 km of roads in each of the three sections of Lokoja – Benin Highway, the 17.6km section of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road (more 3 km to be included at the Kano axis), the 132.5km Kano-Kongollam in Kano, Jigawa, and Kastina States, the 130km Bode Sadu – Kaiama road, 42km Eyenkorin-Offa road, the 73km Lafiaji-Bacita road and the 37km Okuta-Kenu road all in Kwara State;
- Mainstream – the 76.586km Malando – Ngasike – Wara road in Kebbi State, the 45.13km Sabon Gari – Yuni – Auna Road in Magami LGA of Niger State and the asphalt overlay of Mokwa-Nasarawa road in Niger State.
- MTN – the dualization of 107km Enugu- Onitsha road.
The Honourable Minister commended the good works completed on the ongoing projects by Dangote Plc, like the Apapa-Owonronshoki Expressway,the Lekki-Deep Seaport road and the construction of Nnamdi Azikiwe road (western bypass) in Kaduna State. He also commended BUA for the good job they are doing at Ekpoma on the Lokoja Benin Highway project. He nonetheless charged Mainstream to step up efforts on the projects being handled by them.