Use Of Concrete For Abuja-Kano Road Will Save Over 640b

The Federal Government says switching from using asphalt for the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road to using concrete will save the Federal Government over N640 billion.

The Minister of Works, Senator, Dave Umahi stated this when he appeared before the Ad-hoc Committee set up to monitor the construction of the multi-billion naira contract, chaired by Aminu Jaji.

The contract for the construction of the road, which was awarded to Julius Berger, was recently terminated by the Federal Government, who accused the contractor of unethical practices and failure to abide by the terms of the project.

The Federal Government had issued a termination letter to Julius Berger Plc over the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road project, reviewed at N740 billion after a dispute over project costs and implementation.

The Minister, who explained that the contract was re-awarded for a concrete road, expressed displeasure that the project, which has lasted about seven years, was uncompleted and shoddy.

He explained that by their estimation the decision would save the Federal Government over N640 billion from the N1.5 trillion demanded by Julius Berger due to variation.

Umahi also said the road would be of better quality and would be done in record time.

He was queried by the committee if it would not be more expensive to re-award the contract when Berger had already done some work and if it would not be more cost-effective to retain the same contractor even for the concrete road project.

Umahi said there was no going back on the decision as the difference of the amount between the Ministry and Berger appeared irreconcilable.

While noting that it would be unethical to just give the contract to Berger because the contract has to be thrown open for all to bid, the Minister maintained that Julius Berger could still bid for the project if it wanted.

In his remarks, Chairman of the committee, Aminu Jaji directed the Minister to submit all the relevant documents related to the project, including the contract agreement, certificate rates, evidence of payments made so far, among others, so that the Committee will be better guided in addressing the issue.

Meanwhile, in an earlier meeting with the Committee, Julius Berger blamed the slow work on the road on poor policies.

Speaking during the interactive meeting with the committee, the management team of the company, led by Mr. Benjamin Bott, who said they were being owed by the federal government, noted that at a point, the work stopped because the government came up with the option of concrete instead of asphalt for the construction.

Mr Bott also said the problem of insecurity kept workers away for 11 months due to a bomb blast in Kaduna, during which the company’s workers were attacked.

To this end, the Committee also directed the company to supply all documents related to the contract from when it was awarded to date.

Oduyemi Odumade, Edited By Grace Namiji