Fubara assures delivery of Port Harcourt Ring Road project on schedule

Emmanuel Nlewedum, Port Harcourt 

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara has assured Rivers people that he will deliver the Port Harcourt Ring Road on the scheduled time.

Governor Fubara gave the assurance when he visited the project site on Wednesday to assess the extent of work that has been achieved.

Fubara, according to a statement issued in Port Harcourt by his Chief Press Secretary, Nelson Chukwudi on Tuesday, rode the stretch of road from off the Obiri-Ikwerre-Airport Road axis, through the Jesuit Memorial School to Elikpokwuodu Community, then to Rumuosi and Ozuoba communities all in Obio-Akpor LGA, before terminating the inspection tour at UTC Junction in Port Harcourt City LGA.

The inspection tour traversed through three local government areas of the state – Ikwerre, Obio/ Akpor and Port Harcourt City.

At the end of the inspection, Governor Fubara explained that the Port Harcourt Ring Road contract was the first of such agreements that his administration signed.

He said so much money has been expended on the project, with the driving objective of ensuring it is delivered to Rivers people.

“I think that we are good, considering the understanding that we had with Julius Berger Nigeria PLC. 

“We signed off that in 36 months, this project will be done and delivered, and with what we are seeing, we are meeting that target. 

“I think we have a few issues; the price rate of things at that time we signed the contract and what subsists presently is no longer the same. 

“But whatever it is, I have assured them that we will provide the necessary support to ensure that we deliver this project. 

Governor Fubara also stated: “You know this project is very important to us. It is one of the first things that I signed off on when I came in as the Governor of this State. 

“It is a signature infrastructure project for me, whichever way anybody wants to look at it. We signed on for it. We are paying dearly for it, and it’s one of the objectives of this Administration to make sure that we deliver it to our people,” he added.

In his remarks, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Dr. Lars Richter, who conducted the Governor round the project site, said work has advanced after piling and laying of beams on the first flyover, which started on January 15, 2024, and accomplished two months after.

Richter explained that while they have intensified work on the second flyover with beams ready to be laid, significant strides have been achieved in laying out the road and the drains for accelerated construction. 

He assured the Rivers governor that the project would be delivered on schedule, and within specifications.