Cut-off highway: Minister terminates Kano-Maiduguri road 1 contract, summons section 3 contractor

Minister summons contractor of flood-devastated Kano-Maiduguri expressway, terminates section 1 contact 

Cut-off highway: Minister terminates Kano-Maiduguri road 1 contract, summons section 3 contractor

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has expressed worry over the destruction of section three of the newly rehabilitated Kano-Maiduguri expressway by flood and demands an explanation from the contractor

The minister has directed a technical team from the ministry to visit the section for on-the-spot evaluation, promising to address the problem.

He also announced the termination of section 1 of the road awarded since 2007 to Dantata & Sawoe Ltd due to the expiration of the time in the contract agreement.

These details are contained in a statement by the minister’s media aide, Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi.

He said it was unfortunate that completed roads in the country would not last five years.

He stated, “I am directing the Director of Highway Rehabilitation to liaise with the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Works to immediately deploy some technical people to go and evaluate what we can do over there and it’s very unfortunate that when a job is completed by contractors, we don’t even enjoy the road for five years, and we are back to square one.

“That’s why I’ve been saying that this issue of a one-year liability period is not desirable because every badly executed job can last one year, but it cannot last five years.

“So we are still going to request the contractor that did the job, Mothercart Ltd, to join that team and find out why the road had to cut into two as reported to us today, and that is section three of Kano-Maiduguri road.”

Also, the minister said plans were underway to review the liability period for all Federal Government projects to ensure durability and value for money.

Umahi spoke at a performance review meeting with Dangote Group of Companies Plc, BUA Group of Companies Plc and Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd on the road projects handled under Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

He highlighted the progress made so far in funding critical projects under the Tax Credit Scheme and called for more concerted efforts by all contractors handling projects under the tax credit scheme in order to complete all the awarded projects in record time as the projects are within the economic corridors of the nation.