Akpabio: No Amount of Protest Can Complete East-west Road

Ndubuisi Francis in Abuja

The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has stated that protests cannot complete the East-west Road, appealing to protesting Niger Delta youths to vacate Section 3 of the road to enable contractors commence work.

Akpabio, who made the appeal in Abuja during a meeting with stakeholders and contractors handling different sections of the road, acknowledged that the youths were justified to stage a protest over the delay in handling the road.

The minister, who disclosed that the federal government had released an additional N2.5 billion for payment of compensation to property owners along the road corridor, however regretted that the initial N4.5 billion budgeted for compensation could not meet up with demands.

According to him, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has also budgeted another N35 billion to support the project, adding that the ministry had channelled funds met for over 304 projects into the East-west Road project.

He further disclosed that the ministry proposed an extra-budgetary intervention for inclusion of the East-west Road Sections I-IV in the 2020 SUKUK Issuance Programme of the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and the Debt Management Office.

According to him, this is part of the efforts made by the ministry to access adequate funding for the completion of the East-west Road project.

The minister explained that the initial contracts for dualisation of the 338km road linking Warri to Oron through Kaima, Ahoada, Port Harcourt, Ogoni and Eket Townships (Section I-IV) was initially awarded in four sections to four different contractors in 2006.

“It is well known that Section I (Warri-Kaima covering km 0+000-Km. 87+400 and Section III) and Section III (Onne Port Junction – Eket covering Km. 15 + 000 – Km. 99 + 000) have been duly completed by Messrs Setraco Nigeria Limited and Messrs. RCC Nigeria Limited respectively,” he added.

He maintained that the section IIIA (Port Harcourt Onne Road Junction, covering Km. 0 + 000 – Km. 15 + 000 was not part of the contract initially awarded in 2006 because it was in good condition having been dualised earlier, noting that “over time, the Port Harcourt – Onne Port Junction portion had progressively deteriorated as a result of heavy axle loading, flooding and is no longer serviceable for the current traffic volumes. Therefore, the ministry had to award the contract for additional works to Messrs RCC Nigeria Limited to upgrade the Port Harcourt Onne Port Junction.”

He further stated that due to poor annual budgetary provisions, the contract for upgrading of Section IIIA awarded in 2014 could not commence until the ministry paid the contractors the full mobilization Advance in 2020.

He stated: “The condition of the road deteriorated during the period of delay and there has been serious encroachment on the right-of-way initially delineated for the road.

“With the review of the initial contract scope of works and contract unit rates imperative, specific measures for addressing the contingent site conditions militating against the progress of work were scheduled by the ministry, these include the initial design for interchange bridges at Onne Junction which is to be substituted with a flyover bridge, but due to space constraints caused by the newly constructed Power Sub-Station which cannot be relocated due to higher cost implication.

“A new flyover bridge has also been designed to replace the interchange bridge initially designed for Refinery Junction amongst others.”

He appealed to indigenes of the host communities at the Eleme and Onne axis of the East-west Road to support ongoing efforts of the government aimed at completing the road project as scheduled.

The minister made this call during his meeting with Stakeholders and Management of Reynold Construction Company (RCC) in his office, on Thursday, 29 July 2021.

Akpabio who noted that government has not abandoned the road as being insinuated in some quarters, explained that the ministry has been working with the construction company in charge of the road project and it has given assurance that the 338KM East-west Road which has been under construction since 2006 would be fixed and delivered by 2022.

He said, “the road, particularly the Eleme Junction and the Onne Port junction area is in a deplorable state, noting that the road when it was first awarded in 2006, was still in very good shape and was therefore excluded from the original contract, however 15 years after that section has gone bad.”

According to Akpabio, “we have had some apotheosis that have come up within the road corridor, which was not in the original plan, for instance, the Ministry of Power has built a major power Sub-Station by the Eleme junction, and a lot of other structures have also come on board while a section of the bridge at Aleto also collapsed due to erosion at the embayment of the bridge and due to these unforeseen circumstances a section of the road was to be redesigned to preserve the sub-station which is germane to the sustenance of economic activities within the region.”