Umahi tasks contractors on timely completion of road contracts

.Threatens revocation of projects over poor performance

Minister of Works Senator David Umahi has challenged contractors handling major road projects across the country on timely delivery of the projects or risk revocation of the contracts.

Senator Umahi was particular on road projects been handled by construction giant Julius Berger Plc as he tasked the firm to come up with more realistic bids for the determination of some of the projects requiring price variations to ensure for completion.

Senator Umahi gave the charge during a crucial meeting with the team of Julius Berger in Abuja on Tuesday during which both parties reviews the extent of work done on major road projects.

Some of the road projects  which the minister said required review i8nclude the 82km by 2 dualization of section of Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria- Kano  Highway currently handled  by Julius Berger; phase 2 of Lagos-Ibadan expressway, whose pavement elements  had been changed from asphalt  to concrete; section 2A bypass at the 2nd Niger Bridge whose pavement element was changed to concrete; the Bodo-bonny road funded  by  NLNG Tax Credit; the under  deck structural works at 3rd Mainland bridge, Iddo bridge and Carter Bridge.

The Minister who said that the meeting with Julius Berger was in keeping  with the directive of the Federal Executive Council with respect  to all inherited and new projects being  handled by a number  of multi national companies  being  delayed due to issues of price differentials or poor  funding, reiterated  the firmness of the  Ministry on issues of price  control, commitment  of contractors  to project execution, value  for money, and uniform  pricing location  by location.

He decried what he described as the unacceptable conditions of some of the inherited and new projects of all ongoing federal roads awarded to Julius Berger Plc, which are within  the economic  corridor of the nation and which were being  delayed  due to issues of price differentials or lack of effective funding.

The Minister had in a statement signed by  his Special Assistant on Media Bar Orji Uchenna Orji urged  the contractor to be open to a mutually  agreed modality for milestone execution and funding of the projects at reviewed  rates as may be agreed upon and approved  by Federal Executive Council. He said,” Our job is to develop  this mechanism based on FEC directives, and engage with the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, and finally we take our recommendations  back to Mr. President, and of course FEC for consideration.” On  the  section of Abuja Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road agreed to be handled by Julius Berger Plc, he commended  the quality of work being done but directed  the contractor to stick to one carriageway at a time within the scope and conclude their works. The contractor was further  directed to, within  three weeks,  fill the two carriageways  with stone base and level  it to alleviate the sufferings of road users. We agreed that this project, within their own corridor, will last for 14 months. Project execution should be deployed in four sections, and we’ll be paying Berger ₦20 billion every month to get the job completed”.

On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, phase 2, he said the Ministry  had no choice  but  to determine  the contract and ask Bureau of Public Procurement for  No Objection  for selective tendering. He recalled, “We changed the elements of the pavement from asphalt to concrete, and the total cost we came up with based on prevailing cost is ₦153 billion. But they are offering ₦258 billion. Since  we’ve been on this since September 2023, we have no choice but to determine this contract. And then we ask BPP for No Objection for selective tendering, whereby we will be sending our own advice of ₦153 billion to BPP, and we send their own of ₦258 billion to BPP, and then we invite other contractors to also bid. This we will conclude within the next one month so that we can get that job concluded

. On the Second Niger Bridge Bypass handled  by Julius Berger Plc, he said, “one of the  bypasses, which is 17.27 kilometers by two on asphalt was awarded to Julius Berger. We changed the pavement elements to concrete and the cost that we came up with was ₦133 billion. Berger almost gave us more than twice our cost, which is ₦279 billion. We have disagreed with this cost at the time of negotiation since September 2023. We’ve also decided to get the project back to BPP and invite more contractors to bid because this is public fund”.

On the Bodo-Bonny project being  funded  by NLNG Tax Credit, the Honourable Minister expressed concerns that Julius Berger Plc, though  had mobilized back to site after additional cost of N80 billon was approved for the work, but reports showed  that their pace of work was slow. He was further  worried  that they came up with a longer timeline of 16 months within which  to deliver  the project  against the December 2024 deadline proposed  by the  Ministry. He said,  “Finally, we agreed on an additional cost of ₦80 billion, which will bring the project to about ₦280 billion fixed and non-varying with the unit rates agreed, and we agreed that this project will not increase in cost beyond ₦280 billion”. He urged  the  contractor to shift ground to a shorter  timeline  for the sake of the people. Concerning the under deck structural works at 3rd Mainland Bridge, Iddo bridge, Carter Bridge in Lagos State, he commended  the contractor for  doing fantastic work. He said,” We have no problems on pricing. We’ve paid 30% due to the intervention of Mr. President. They’re working, and we’ve directed that each time they put a certificate and we still have funds, we will pay within seven days because this job they’re doing is very critical. For 53 years, those bridges were constructed, no maintenance, and so the deterioration is so horrible and frightening. Right now, we’ve closed the 3rd Mainland Bridge against big ttrucks.

Commenting on the Odukpani road in Cross River State, he said, “We have got  approval from Federal Executive Council to increase their project by ₦36 billion, thereby raising the project cost from ₦54 billion to ₦90 billion. This was just approved for a few days ago. We want to know their response on that. Yes, we have agreed to change the pavement to concrete, and our position is that they have to engage on one carriageway when we agree on this.  It is when we agree on all these ones where that we do not have complete funding that we can enter into the second phase of what FEC directed, and that  is to discuss the mechanism”.

In his remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, PhD, stated that some of the ongoing road projects handled by contractors required emergency  works to alleviate  the sufferings of road users and assured  that all the supervising engineers would be on their toes to ensure  that the Ministry’s  policy of Operation Free our Roads was carried  out by all the contractors handling  federal government roads nationwide. On the section of Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Highway handled by Julius Berger Plc, He said, “we have requested this emergency  work due to the flow of information and the requests that we’ve been getting from Nigerians plying Abuja to Kano, more especially  Abuja to Kaduna road, where a number of big craters  have been created on that road”.