…Funding Delay Increases Project Execution Contract Cost By 100%
The federal government has revealed its plan to initiate a termination process for the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway project over poor funding and execution.
The project is handled by RCC Ltd and funded by MTN under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
THE WHISTLER recalls that many lives have been lost along the uncompleted sections of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway especially the recent incident of tanker explosion on the Ugwu Onyema axis of the road that killed scores of people.
However, during a courtesy call by a delegation from the Anambra and Enugu caucus of the 10th National Assembly to the Minister of Works in Abuja on Thursday, it was resolved that MTN should pay contractors handling the project a minimum of N15bn every month for the next 10 months to fast-track the project.
The meeting had in attendance the Minority Whip of the Senate, representing Enugu West, Senator Osita Ngwu; Senator representing Anambra Central in the Senate, Sen. Victor Umeh; Senator Okey Ezea, representing Enugu North; Senator Kelvin Chukwu, representing Enugu East, among others.
However, Barrister Orji Uchenna Orji, the special adviser (media) to the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday, said it was equally resolved at the meeting that MTN’s failure to meet the condition would lead to the termination of the project.
“It was resolved, among other things, that the Federal Ministry of Works would write the MTN to demand that MTN should commit irrevocably to pay contractors on the project a minimum of ₦15bn every month for the next 10 months to enable them to fast-track the completion of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, failing which the Ministry would initiate the termination process of the project.
“It was further resolved that MTN would need three contractors to do the 79 kilometres within the original contract sum of ₦202bn.
Furthermore, the remaining 72 km of the road shall be awarded to other contractors through due process.
‘MTN and RCC would be invited to bid too. The ministry lamented that what MTN is doing is not in line with the Tax Credit Executive Order.
“It was noted in the meeting that the delay on the job, which was due to poor funding and poor contract execution, has resulted in over a 100 per cent increase in the project cost, and to allow MTN more than 11 months on the job could further push the contract to increase by over 200 per cent and this is unacceptable to the Federal Government,” the statement stated.
Umahi was quoted to have assured the people of South East during the meeting of the commitment of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to the transformation of the transportation infrastructure in the Southeast, like every other geopolitical zone of the country.
The Minister, who expressed deep sympathy over the lives that have been lost along the uncompleted sections of the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway especially the recent incident of tanker explosion on the Ugwu Onyema axis of the road that killed scores of people, stated that the people in the zone have every reason to have confidence on the ability of the present administration to address the road infrastructure deficits in the South East and other geo-political zones of Nigeria.
He noted that under Tinubu, the South East has been given a pride of place in the political landscape of Nigeria.
He reiterated the need for the South East to rise in gratitude to Mr President for prioritising intervention on roads and for solving the problem of marginalisation of the South East.
Umahi said: “And so we want the National Assembly members, and of course, South East stakeholders, to please stand up and commend the President at all times because this is not party something. And I can beat my chest and say that irrespective of party, no other person will have the heart to do what Mr President is doing for the people of the South-East.”
Speaking during the event, the leader of the delegation and minority whip of the Senate, representing Enugu West, Sen. Osita Ngwu, commended the minister for the unprecedented scale of road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance nationwide.
He, however, expressed worries that some of the projects were not receiving adequate funding required to complete the projects in record time.
He made particular reference to the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway that was awarded to RCC and funded through the tax credit, and today, some sections of the road have become a death trap for road users.
He stated that the delegation was compelled by the recent tanker mishap on the Ugwu Onyeama axis of the road in Enugu State to visit the Honourable Minister.
He expressed the readiness of the federal lawmakers to offer necessary collaborations and cooperation that would help in tackling the challenges and bottlenecks faced by the ministry in ensuring the completion of the said road.
On his part, the senator representing Anambra Central in the Senate, Sen. Victor Umeh, thanked the president for giving the South East a sense of belonging in his administration and for the wave of road infrastructure transformation going on across the nation.
He pleaded with the president to give accelerated intervention on funding to the roads in the Southeast so that the zone could fully benefit from the economic development agenda of the Renewed Hope administration.
