Completion date for East-West road not certain - Niger Delta minister
- The Niger Delta affairs minister, Usani Uguru Usani, says the delay experienced in completing the project is due to financial constraints
- Usani notes that the projects have been abandoned by past administrations
- He gives a progress report on the project and lists the aspects of the project that are still left undone
Eleven years after East-West road was awarded, the federal government stated recently there is no certain date for the completion of the project.
The minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani, has revealed that there is no certain date for the completion of the east-west road.
He made the revelation at the 2017 ministerial press conference, that there is no set date for the completion of the east-west road project. He said this while showcasing what the ministry has achieved so far. He noted that the delay was due to financial constraints.
He said: “You cannot fetch water from the rock if there is no fountain.”
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It is on record that the contract for the dualisation of the east-west road, which traverses the Niger Delta region, was awarded by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration on the platform of 'Presidential Initiative' in November 2006. At that time, the project was set to be completed in three years.
According to Vanguard's report, Usani said that the completion of the road projects have been postponed many times by past governments. He also noted that for now there is no set date for completion of the projects. However, he stated: “But the ministry will continue to fund the project until it is completed.”
The minister, however, disclosed that section 1 of the project, from Warri in Delta state to Kaiama in Bayelsa state, had been completed, while sections II, III and IV of the road have almost reached completion, and section V, from Oron to Calabar is set for the commencement of construction.
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Usani said: “The anxiety of anybody wanting the East-West road to be completed within months is obviously very important. Even myself, I feel concerned about it because the fifth section of the road will also get to my state. “So, I am not indifferent. I am as anxious as any other person from the Niger Delta will be.
"Nonetheless, you cannot take water from the rock if there is no fountain. And whatever we are doing is within the limit of our financial ability and capability.”
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that floods and a lot of other factors had damaged over 41 highways across the country. The minister of power, works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, had said these roads will be repaired.
At a meeting in Abuja with contractors handling federal government’s projects, Fashola said the rehabilitation will be embarked upon alongside ongoing road construction projects.
One of the roads to be repaired is the Benue-Makurdi highway and other major highways in the southeast among other flooded projects which were inspected by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Fuel scarcity: This is getting too much for us - Nigerians lament on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
