East-West road to gulp 70% of N’Delta ministry’s budget

The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs says it will channel 70 per cent of its 2021 budget towards the completion of the East-West highway dualisation project.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Dr Babayo Ardo, stated this during the inspection of the East-West road at Section IV (Eket By pass Dual Carriage Way and Onne/Eket-Oron road) in Akwa Ibom State, on Friday May 21, 2021.

He said that the ministers are both working round the clock to ensure the completion of the road project, stressing that the road would benefit the people of the Niger Delta region immensely.

“I am highly satisfied for what I have seen, the contractors are all on site working assiduously in line with President Muhammadu Buhari directive to complete and commission this priority project before the first quarter of 2022”.

“For the past two days the Hon. Minister of State, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA), Sen. Omotayo Alasoadura and I, have been on the East-West road for inspection, that Section (I) which covers Warri in Delta State to Kaima in Bayelsa has already been completed last year”, he added.

A representative of the ministry, Okoro Iheomamere, an engineer, said that the phase 1 of the Eket bridge was already completed, adding that work was in progress at Bridge 5 and construction work at the stage of earthworks to stabilize the swampy terrain was ongoing at Eket bypass.

According to him, the section (IV) of the East-West Road project is about 95.7 per cent complete, revealing that finishing work was being done at the deck-on-pile Section of Eket bridge.

Responding to the Permanent Secretary’s comments at the Eket and Oron axis of the East-West Road, the Project Manager/Coordinator, Gitto Construction Company Nigeria Ltd, Chief Ghanem H. Rasbieh, explained that the mobilization of the basic equipment to the sites had hastened the pace of work, adding that most of the sites would be completed soon and ready for commissioning.

He stated that the Eket by-pass, when completed would lead straight to Calabar from various Niger Delta states as commuters would enjoy seamless movement on that route without experiencing traffics.