Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has expressed satisfaction at the performance of Sermatech Construction Company on the ongoing remediation work on the Calabar-Itu Federal Highway.

The Minister disclosed this late Wednesday during a meeting with the Cross River State Consultative Forum and representatives of Sermatech Construction Company, in his office in Abuja.

In a statement on Thursday by the representative of Sermatech in Cross River State, Ento Edako, Umahi was said to have summoned the meeting to listen to a petition from Cross River State Consultative Forum.

The Minister, the statement noted, said he had erroneously felt bad blood against Sermatech until he visited the site a few months ago, noting that he was impressed with the 40 per cent rate already achieved by the construction company.

Rebuffing the Cross River State Consultative Forum’s petition, the Minister said instead of revoking Sermatech’s contract, the company should be encouraged as the only indigenous company that has continued to work on the Calabar-Itu Highway, carrying palliative interventions beyond its contractual areas free of charge.

Umahi was quoted to have said, “Before any calls for revocation, parties agitating must first visit the site and not resort to maligning the good image of the company.”

He confirmed that the quality of work was very satisfactory.

Umahi in the company of some members of his management team, also corrected the misinformation in the Forum’s petition, stating that the graphical presentation of the 28.6 kilometres awarded to Sermatech (from the Power Plant to Oku-Iboku in Akwa Ibom) was a clear demarcation between the company and Julius Berger.

He drew the attention of the Cross River State Consultative Forum to the Benin Bypass/Agbor Road, where Sermatech has been working on a yet-to-be-paid basis, describing the company’s gesture as a nationalistic ideal.

The Minister praised Sermatech for continuing work on the road even when other companies working on the same road had all pulled out for financial remuneration.

He appealed to Sermatech to continue work as the Federal Government is poised to complete the Calabar-Itu Highway as a very important economic corridor between the South-Southern states of Cross River and Akwa Ibom and their South-Eastern neighbours.

The tripartite meeting had the delegation from Cross River State Consultative Forum led by Eyo Ekpo, in the company of Victor Okon, Chief Ani Esin, Prof Emmanuel Eyo, James Anam, Sir Maurice Effiwat, and Mrs Ada Egwu.

The Sermatech delegation was led by the Managing Director, Mr Isioma Ezi-Ashi, and two other engineers, Joe Ukpata and Iheanacho Chibueze.