FG tasks Julius Berger, others on completion of road projects

The Federal Government has called on Julius Berger PLC to work on completing all inherited and ongoing new road infrastructure projects as scheduled.

Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Thursday, said this at a meeting with multinational companies who delayed the execution of the projects due to issues of price differentials or poor funding in Abuja.

Umahi also stated that they have opened decisive discussions with Julius Berger Plc on all the inherited and new projects it handled to appraise their performance and decide on funding and completion of all contracts awarded under the Renewed Hope Agenda.

He reiterated their firmness on the issues of price control, commitment of contractors to project execution, value for money, and uniform pricing location by location, and decried the conditions of the inherited and new projects within the economic corridor of the country.

The minister, therefore, listed the projects affected, including the 82 kilometres by 2 dualization of Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria- Kano Highway currently handled by Julius Berger; phase 2 of Lagos-Ibadan expressway, whose pavement elements had been changed from asphalt to concrete.

Others are the 2nd Niger Bridge whose pavement element has been changed to concrete; the Bodo-Bonny Road funded by NLNG Tax Credit; the under-deck structural works at 3rd Mainland Bridge, Iddo Bridge, and Carter Bridge.

He urged the contractor to be open to a mutually agreed modality for execution and funding of the projects at reviewed rates as may be agreed upon and approved by the Federal Executive Council.

“Our job is to develop this mechanism based on FEC directives and engage with the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and finally we take our recommendations back to Mr. President for consideration,” Umahi said.

On the section of Abuja Kaduna- Zaria-Kano Road, he explained that Julius Berger Plc agreed to handle it, commending the quality of work being done by the contractor to stick to one carriageway at a time within the scope and conclude their works.

“We agreed that this project, within their corridor, will last for 14 months. Project execution should be deployed in four sections, and we’ll be paying Berger ₦20 billion every month to get the job completed,” he added.

In a remark, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, stated that some of the ongoing road projects handled by contractors required emergency.

“We have got approval from Federal Executive Council to increase their projects. We’ve agreed to change the pavement to concrete, and our position is on one carriageway,” Kofarmata said.