ROAD REHABILITATION: OBI ORDERS CONTRACTOR BACK TO SITE

By NBF News

BY VINCENT UJUMADU
GOVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State has directed the contractor handling the rehabilitation of the Onitsha end of the Onitsha -Enugu expressway, Consolidated Construction Company, CCC, to mobilize to site immediately.

According to him, the contractor has no reason to slow the pace of work, having been mobilised.

The governor gave the directive while inspecting the road  at the bridge head axis of the road in Onitsha with some officials of CCC and the state Ministry of Works, led by the commissioner, Mr. Callistus Ilozumba.

Though the contract was awarded by the Federal Government, the governor said his interest in the completion of the job stemmed from the fact that it was the gate way to the East.

The governor said he had to travel to Abuja many times to persuade the Federal Government to award the road contract, adding that having followed details of the contract, he was in a position to give the contractors directives.

He said: 'All I am saying is that due to the strategic nature of the contract, we have been following it and I know that mobilisation has been paid.'

He also explained that Anambra State had taken ownership of the contract, in line with the state government's policy and that he would, if necessary, relocate his office to the area to ensure that the contract was successfully executed.

Governor Obi said the non-completion of the project was delaying the planned beautification of the entrance into the state, adding that once the road was done, the beautification programme would commence.

The road, which was designed to have three lanes and a service lane on both sides, would require the demolition of some illegal structures in the area.

Obi, however,  urged officials of the construction company to write to him formally on the issue of the demolition of illegal structures, promising that the state government would continue to persuade them  to leave willingly.

Similarly, the governor inspected the Old Nkpor-Ogidi-Abagana-Enugu-Ugwu Road, which is also a federal road, but presently being reconstructed by the state government.

The governor was visibly angry with the contractors handling the project for the slow pace of work, even as an official of the company explained that vehicular movement was responsible for the slow pace of work.