FG to terminate road contracts over delay in completion

Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, emphasized the Federal Government’s commitment to terminating road contracts of underperforming companies, regardless of their origin.

He assured that indigenous contractors would receive increased opportunities for federal road construction and rehabilitation projects.

During an inspection of the Sapele-Ologbo-Benin Road and East-West roads in Delta State, Senator Umahi praised Trutech Global Investment Services Limited for their work on the East-West Road.

But he further expressed disappointment in the progress made by Geld Construction Ltd on the Sapele-Ologbo-Benin road.

The minister expressed his intention to terminate the Sapele-Benin Road contracts due to the pressing need to address the daily challenges faced by the people using the road.

He instructed the ministry’s supervising engineers to send a warning letter to the contractor, with a clear directive to prioritize the completion of the existing carriageway before proceeding with the dualisation.

The minister emphasized the financial constraints by stating that it was impractical to continue with two carriageways when there were insufficient funds to complete even one.

“Most contractors in Nigeria are playing politics, which l will not tolerate. After one week, if the contractor does not commence the construction of continuous reinforced concrete pavement, the contract will be terminated.”

Umahi lamented the suffering of road users and faulted the contractor for attributing the slow pace of work on-site to the high cost of cement.

“We paid multi-billion naira for this job. We will never pay Variation On Price (VOP) for the amount of money that we have paid. That is the problem with Levant Construction Company.

“You cannot do this kind of job in your country; it can only happen in Africa. You cannot collect our money and be misbehaving. It is a big shame. Look at how people are suffering everywhere, and we should be happy clapping for you.

“I have had more than ten meetings with them on this job. If anything goes wrong, they will be calling the President,” he said.

At the Amukpe roundabout end of the ongoing dualisation of the Sapele-Eku-Agbor Road, he directed the contracting firm, CGC Nigeria Limited to discontinue for now the dualisation until it finishes one carriageway of the project as well as rescope the job.

The contractor was given a 14-day ultimatum to comply with the instructions, failing which the minister would personally terminate the contract.

“I am directing that you (CGC Nigeria Limited) to rescope the job. We are not stopping the dualisation but we are phasing it. We finish the existing lane, make it motorable for people and then we go into the other one,” the minister ordered.

Engineer Adesola Adetoro of Trutech Global Investment Services Ltd has confirmed to the minister the commitment to adhere strictly to the project specifications and is dedicated to achieving timely completion.

The Sapele-Eku-Agbor Road dualisation project, which began in 2015 despite being awarded in 2014, spans 110.6 kilometres.

Currently, the progress stands at 12.9 percent completion.