Works minister David Umahi has directed contractors handling federal government road projects to remain fully active on their sites, warning against abandoning projects.
The works controller in Ondo, Olajide Hussein, disclosed on Wednesday in Akure.
Mr Hussein said the minister gave the directive during a recent meeting that “no contractor handling a federal road project should leave the site”.
He explained that the minister’s order applied to all contractors, with no exceptions.
Speaking on the Akure-Ado road project, Mr Hussein assured motorists and residents that construction on an outstanding section of the road would resume soon.
The controller also said that the federal government had reviewed the construction method for the remaining section of the project, with concrete to be used instead of asphalt.
“The honourable minister of works has directed that no contractor should leave their project sites. The Akure to Ado-Ekiti contractors are no exception, and we expect them to return to the site immediately.
“You know the federal government has re-awarded the other section to be on concrete instead of asphalt for the first section. So any moment now, the contractor will resume work on site,” he said.
According to him, the contractor has about 12 months to complete the second carriageway once work resumes.
He said, with the minister’s directive, all contractors were expected to return to site and accelerate work on the outstanding carriageway, while the revised concrete construction method is expected to help complete the project.
The project was flagged off in May 2023, when the Federal Executive Council approved the re-award of the 50-kilometre dualisation project.
The Akure-Ondo boundary section was awarded to Samchase Nigeria and Horizon Construction Company with a 24-month completion period.
Kopek Construction received the Ekiti boundary-Ado-Ekiti section with a 30-month completion timeline.
Mr Hussein said the timeline for completing the second carriageway project quickly should be about 12 months.
(NAN)
