In keeping with its infrastructural development mantra especially in the road sector, the Federal Government has approved a multi-billion naira roads construction projects across the country especially the completion of Benin-Ore-Adebamdele-Shagamu Road at the cost of N92.5 billion.
This cheering news was dropped Wednesday by Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who told State House Correspondents after the weekly Federal Executive Council presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at Council Chambers of the Presidential Villa Abuja that Council approved all four memoranda on roads projects his ministry presented at the meeting.
Fashola said FEC approved all four memoranda he presented with respect to Benin-Ore-Adebamdele- Shagamu Road, particular the section from Adebamdele to Shagamu.
According to him: “the contract was first awarded in 2014 by the previous administration, and to complete it, the specifications needed to be changed, particularly as the shoulders and the pavement were found to be inadequate as conceived to support the kind of trucks and tonnage.
So, the redesign of the shoulders and pavement provision necessitated a revised estimated total cost of N22.879 billion to take the contract from original sum of N71.6 billion to N92.5 billion. The stretch involved is 99 kilometers from kilometer 162 to 261. Council approved that review of total estimated cost in Favour of Messers RCC construction firm currently working there.
The former Lagos State Governor also said that Council approved the contract for the Akwanga-Keffi-Makurdi highway, an existing contract executed under the China-EXIM loan by China Habour Engineering Construction Company (CHECK).
Said he; “this is a sub-contract within the contract, which is the construction of a nine-way underground cable and telecommunication facility dock over the length of 255 kilometers for the sum of N4.625 billion.
Council approved this in Favour of a company called QSA Limited. The company will first relocate some of the existing services, cables, pipes and all of that on that corridor and then construct a nine-way dock underground for future facility. So this will help in digital communication, pipe, gas and everybody who wants to lay service cables and allied installations in the future without necessarily damaging the existing road.
Fashola said the third memorandum approved by FEC is the design and equipping of an automation process for the issuance of certificate of occupancy in respect of federal government lands.
He revealed that: “currently, the Minister for Works and Housing has delegated authority for signing certificate of occupancy in a Manuel form. But we are moving to automation based on this approval, that all of these processes can be initiated online, process online, approved and printed in a digital form and this will provide also business continuity and retrieval in case of any obstruction arising from natural and other unforeseen courses. The contract for all of this was N976,037,330 in Favour of IQ Systems with completion period of 10 months.
The fourth memo, the Minister said was for the construction of 4×20 meters span bridge at kilometer 18 along Lantang Wase Road in Plateau State for N2.867 billion to Metropolitan Construction Nigeria Limited.
“Recall last year that he has bridge which was an old bridge collapsed as a result of heavy flooding in the Lantang Wase area cutting off people. We had to provide some remedial crossing for the communities. So council has approved that we reconstruct the bridge this time using reinforced concrete at N2.867 billion”, Fashola disclosed to journalists.
