Government tasks contractors on speedy completion of Benin-Auchi highway

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, has implored the contractors handing the dualisation of the Benin-Auchi-Okene-Lokoja expressway to hasten the completion of the project.

During the inspection of the highway and other Federal Government projects, including ongoing works at the Azura Power West Africa and the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), at the weekend in Benin City, Edo State, Fashola directed the affected contractors to finish work before the rains begin.

Reiterating government’s commitment to a better life for the citizens, the minister said the early completion of the power and road projects would boost economic activities and reduce carnage on the highway.

He said the construction firms handling the 47- kilometre stretch of the road have each reached a significant stage, assuring Nigerians that the facility and others nationwide were receiving government’ attention for speedy completion.

Fashola urged the contractors in charge of the Benin axis to ensure that the road is “motorable whether under the rain or sunshine.” He said work had reached an advanced stage on the first 47-kilometre of the Section Four of the Ehor-Benin City axis of the highway, urging others contractors to hasten up work on the rest sections in order that the completion date is met.

The Controller, Federal Ministry of Works, Edo State, Oke Owhe, who accompanied the minister on the tour, recalled that the Federal Government awarded the first phase of the project to Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) on December 3, 2012, while work commenced on December 24 of same year with the completion date pegged at December 23, 2018.