Rivers Monorail Project No Longer Tenable After Gulping N33.9b, Says Technical Partner
AFTER receiving over N22 billion for its services, the technical partners to the Rivers State government on the controversial Monorail project, ARCUS GIBBS Nig Ltd, has said the project was no longer tenable.
The company also disclosed that the planned commissioning of the first phase of the project in April by the immediate past administration of former governor Chibuike Amaechi was a hoax.
The revelation was made by the Managing Director of ARCUS GIBBS Nig Ltd, Wiero Viguezang, while testifying before the Justice George Omereji-led Judicial Commission of Inquiry on the sale of valued Rivers State assets by the Amaechi administration in Port Harcourt yesterday.
Viguezang said his company, which the Rivers State government engaged on March 1, 2010, to construct the multi-million Monorail project, was of the view that the project, which has gulped well over N33.9 billion, was no longer tenable, due to paucity of funds to proceed with the project.
He admitted that so far, ARCUS GIBBS Nig Ltd has received a total of N22.9bn from the Rivers State government through the Ministry of Transport since March 1, 2010.
According to him, paucity of funds and the seeming failure of the state government’s original technical and equity partners, TSI Nig Ltd, headed by the former military administrator of Rivers State, retired Brig-Gen Anthony Ukpo, to contribute its 80 per cent equity holdings, means the state cannot continue with the project.
Responding to a memo written by ARCUS GIBBS Nig Ltd to former Commissioner of Transport, Geroge Tolofari, which was tendered by the legal counsel to the commission, Dr. Zaccheus Adangor, as evidence, Viguezang admitted that his company had written the memo for a pseudo unveiling of the technically uncompleted monorail with a view to using the media to deceive anxious Rivers people.
“We actually wrote to the Ministry of Transport in January to arrange for the governor to unveil the monorail project in April for the attention and coverage of the media based on the expectation of the people of the state,” he said.
He added: “Apart from the media coverage and public attention that it was expected to generate, the monorail was not technically and commercially ready. Only Phase 1A within Phase 1 of the project was ready.”
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8 Comments
This rail should rather be built on the land for safety and financial reasons.
Umenta the rail which will be powered by HV electricity cannot be on the land for no reason other than safety.
Presently am in Belarus, here it is high voltage that is used and it is on land, what i mean by safety is the bridge and the rail collapsing , we have land and underground ( called subways in western countries and Metro in former USSR)railways system, i think they are safer.
Umenta you are on point , when I visited Switzerland , their monorail shares the same main road with cars .I wonder why this should be different, Ameachi is the most corrupt Governor of the last regime , a man of deceit character and arrogant disposition .You cant fight corruption when you are wholly
and ungodly corrupt .He single handedly sponsored Buhari in order to hide his elicits loots , but unfortunately for him Buhari says he belongs to no body.That was why he was not appointed the SGF.His will be a acid test to Buhari to prove he is incorruptible!
Actually no! This is built by Intamin, identical to the one in Moscow Russia. It is supposed to be suspended in the air and only costs 240 million not the 500 million that was wasted.
One of the conduit pipes Amaechi used to syphon Rivers state tax-payers money. God will surely judge him and his band of ignorant supporters.
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They said Fashola N78 million was small and smear campagin. When a government official superintends over wastage of N22 billion of public funds, he should be jailed minimum of 1 year for each billion. Buhari, can we can start anti-corruption fight already!
We will review and take appropriate action.