The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi has ordered the issuance of a 14 day notice of termination for the Port Harcourt- Aba Expressway being handled by the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, CCECC over failure to adhere to approved specification.
Speaking during an inspection of the Aba bound section of the road, Senator Umahi said he would not allow any contractor to sabotage the good works carried out under President Bola Tinubu’s Administration and berated the method utilized by the CCECC which has resulted in failed sections of the road.
He said: “The site handled by CCECC, the Ministry should issue them 14-days notice for the termination of this job. And I want this directive to go wide and after 14 days if they fail to mill out the binder and replace it properly, they have to initiate it, they have to commit to doing that even if they are going to do it during the dry season, they have to maintain the ones that they have done and they put in writing that they are going to mill out the binder at their own cost and then be able to put a new binder which we have paid for.
“If they do not do that I will shutdown all their projects in Nigeria. I will do that and so the notice of termination must issued before Wednesday and I will publish it.
“So that the efforts that the President is putting, you know, nobody is going to sabotage them.”
Umahi while urging the Federal Comptroller of Works in Rivers State, Mrs Tarilade Ewerema to scout for indigenous contractors that would begin the Port Harcourt bound section of the road, instructed CCECC to mill out binders on the failed sections of the road and replace them at their own cost.
He added: “I have been writing them to maintain this road they refused and so I have to take responsibility and take decision.
“The Port Harcourt bound should be descoped, it is no longer going to be done by CCECC. I will direct the Ministry of Works to scout out for very qualified indigenous contractors to handle the Port Harcourt bound. They should be the contractors that will start work immediately and then while we source for fund for them.
Umahi stated that the Aba-bound section of the road is on the verge of total collapse, just 43 kilometers from Port Harcourt to Aba, while lamenting that despite repeated warnings, CCECC has failed to adhere to construction standards, leading to the poor state of the road.
“The method of construction is being a very serious source of concern where you will do binder of over a stretch of 30km and you are not putting wearing,” he said.
The Minister noted that the Federal Government has paid for the project using taxpayers’ money and expressed disappointment that CCECC has consistently refused to obey instructions.
He also revealed that he has visited the site more than seven times and issued over 20 warnings to CCECC, which have fallen on deaf ears. “I want the press to capture the failure of the road that the Federal Government has paid for, have used taxpayers’ money to pay for this road,” he emphasized.
Consequently, the Minister warned that the Federal Government will not tolerate such substandard work and has threatened to terminate CCECC’s contract if the issues are not addressed. “When we do this, they can go and say all sorts of things to stakeholders, but we do not care, our conscience is very clear, and we will publish all the warnings we gave to CCECC on this project so that the whole country will see it,” Umahi stated.
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