Delta State Commissioner for Works, Highways and Urban Roads, Comrade Reuben Izeze has reiterated the resolve of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori to complete all ongoing projects in the State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Comrade Izeze said this while speaking with newsmen during an inspection tour of a section of the Ughelli-Asaba expressway, a federal road under construction by the State Government.
Izeze disclosed that the major challenge of the road construction is the link bridge between Ogwashi-Uku junction and Nsukwa junction, which he said once completed the major challenge of the road construction is over.
It was observed that the precast beams for the bridge were ready, and the project contractor, the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) had commenced installation of the bridge.
“Sector C1 where we are now covers about 25 kilometres of the stretch from just after Kwale, around Nsukwa junction down to Ogwashi-Uku junction. The most challenging part of the road is this bridge.
“If you look over there, there is an existing bridge, a very tiny one. Most of the times, you hear that flood has washed over the bridge but the bridge has survived. To escape that problem, we decided to construct two new bridges and that is what you are seeing. Once they construct this bridge, I think that the major challenge on the road has been conquered.
“This project is part of His Excellency’s commitment to complete all ongoing projects in the State. As you can see, this is a massive project. The entire stretch of the road starts from Ughelli to Asaba,” Izeze said.
TNG recalls that the Ughelli-Asaba expressway construction project was first awarded to UNO Construction Company during the administration of Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan as Governor of State.
“After several years, we discovered that the firm does not have the capacity to deliver the project. So, that contract was terminated. Subsequently, it was re-awarded to Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) in 2019,” Izeze said.
Speaking on the socio-economic importance of the Ughelli-Asaba expressway, the Commissioner for Works said:
“The idea of this road is to ease traffic. The idea was predicated on the move by the federal government to get the NPA in Warri to become functional. There was hope that the Escravos bar was going to be dredged by the Goodluck Jonathan administration so that bigger ships could come into the Warri port.
“There was commitment. If NPA Warri becomes functional, the idea was to get traders from Onitsha to import their goods through Warri. If they did that, the haul from Warri will pass through this road.
“When this road is dualised and the Warri port is functional, most of the traders travelling from Onitsha in Anambra State going to Lagos State to clear their goods from Tin Can Island, Apapa Wharf, and others, will use this road to clear their goods from the Warri port, given the huge demurrage they incur in the course of clearing their goods because of too much traffic in Lagos.
“I believe that the Governors of the South-South are interfacing with the National Assembly to bring it to bear on the Bola Tinubu administration. There is a very important need to dredge the Excravos bar. Once that is achieved and this road is dualised, there will be a lot of socio-economic benefits.
“That was the dream behind this project and we do hope that the dream would become a reality”.
Speaking further during the inspection tour, Comrade Izeze expressed hope that the federal government would make refunds to the Statement Government for construction of the road.
“This is a federal road. In the last administration of Muhammadu Buhari, the government was reasonable enough to realise that the Rivers State Government had done a lot to ease traffic on federal roads in Port Harcourt and refunded about N80 billion to the State Government. We do hope that we will make our case before the federal government and get some refunds,” he said
When asked, the Delta State Manager of CCECC, Mr Wu-u Yuaru corroborated the Commissioner for Works to assure that all things being equal, with clement weather and available resources, the project would be delivered by the end of the dry season in 2025.
TNG reports Izeze was accompanied on the inspection tour by the State Commissioner for Information, Dr Ifeanyi Osuoza; Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon, and other top government officials in the Ministry of Works.