Umahi queries contractor as flood destroys newly rehabilitated Kano-Maiduguri highway

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has decried the destruction of section three of the newly rehabilitated Kano-Maiduguri highway by flooding.

In a statement by the minister’s media aide, Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi said it was unfortunate that completed roads in the country did not last five years.

Umahi, who stated that a technical team from the ministry had been despatched for on the spot evaluation, promised to find a lasting solution to the road.

He also announced the termination of section 1 of Kano-Maiduguri road awarded since 2007 to Dantata & Sawoe Ltd due to effluxion of time.

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“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 can not 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.”

Speaking during 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, the minister said plans were underway to review the liability period for all federal government projects to ensure durability and value for money.

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.

He said that going forward, there would be an agreement on milestone completion and timetable for the various ongoing projects being done under tax credit.