Minister orders speedy completion of East-West road

THE Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Osani Oguru Osani, has ordered the speedy completion of the flagship East-West Road, pledging that the Federal Government would fulfil its funding obligation.

Osani, who gave the order during a meeting with contractors in Abuja, said the ministry was about to embark on an assessment tours of road projects in the various states of the Niger Delta.

He stated that other road projects must also be completed with specified quality.

According to him, an initial assessment of the projects on the brief handed over to him on resumption of office indicated that all contractors had defaulted on delivery date.

He, therefore, asked them to return to site, warning contractors that had been mobilised but failed to execute their contracts to do the needful.

Osani also warned contractors against giving money to anyone who may present himself as representing the minister’s interest.

“I want to remind you on the policy thrust of this administration which is transparency and to deliver on quality. We will appreciate the openness of contractors to let us know why they have not delivered within the required time,” he said.

The minister added that the East West road project was to gulp N582 billion of which N276 billion had been disbursed “and we expect commensurate work to have been done. Our engineers will have to assess the quality of work done. As you oblige on quality, the government will oblige on its responsibility. We expect nothing less that due quality”, Osani stressed.

Responding on behalf of the contractors, the Managing Director of Setraco, Yayez Khalaf, said they faced challenge of funds in the past, informing that section one of the flagship road was ready for commissioning.