Poor execution of projects in the Country has got the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi worried, lamenting that all ongoing federal road projects are products of substandard construction none of which can last seven years.
According to Umahi, except President Bola Tinubu does something to address the procurement system in the Country, “his lofty intention to help this country may not be achieved.”
Umahi who is a certified Engineer premised his assertion on the inference drawn from findings gathered during his recent road inspection tour crisscrossing the entire nation.
The former Governor of Ebonyi State noted that from the tour it was discovered major roads are riddled with potholes which he said have deteriorated into “boreholes.”
While addressing contractors from the six geo-political zones at the Ministry headquarters on Tuesday, in Abuja, the Minister expressed dissatisfaction over the poor work done by contractors over the years
Umahi who lamented the contractors have cheated Nigerians with the materials they use to construct roads in the Country, said the contractors have been in the habit of increasing the cost of their projects to swindle the country through contract variation and the use of asphalt materials, which are subject to the international price of crude oil.
He questioned the unauthorised additional work undertaken by contractors and urged them to obtain proper authorisation.
He emphasised the importance of thorough documentation and clearance procedures, making it clear that contracts would not be signed without the necessary design plans and original road blueprints.
“There is no project being constructed right now in Nigeria that is going to last for seven years. The question is are we going to be maintaining or reconstructing our roads every 10 years? That is what we have been doing. I travelled from Abuja to Benin City through Lokoja, all the stretches of the road are on contract, and ongoing, this is through the policy of the last administration but how much of the roads are motorable? I travelled through the roads myself and I shed tears for the kind of pains our people are going.
“I spent 14 hours on the road having started my journey at 10 am and got to Benin City at 2 pm the next day and I was very happy I experienced the pains. President Tinubu said I must travel through all the projects so that I could brief him on my experience and tell him the truth.
“Unless Mr. President does something about our procurement, his lofty intention to help this country may not be achieved. documents will be sent to the Bureau of Public Procurement for a no-objection certificate and it will stay for six months. How will the contractors do the additional job you directed them to do without backup authorisation,” he said.
While criticising workers in the Ministry for not supervising road projects, the minister also castigated the entire construction industry in Nigeria, stating that the poor condition of the roads is partly due to a lack of professionalism and outdated construction methods and further directed all contractors to redesign their projects to concrete technology rather than asphalt and vowed not to pay any contractor who does not adhere to the directive.
According to the Minister, claims that the cement price would rise to N9,000 if the government starts doing concrete roads is false, as it is part of a big campaign of blackmail against him by the cabals in the construction industry.
“This is my line of instructions and I will do whatever the president instructs me to do. He is the only one and God that can cancel my instructions. So, don’t waste your time reporting me to anyone apart from these two. No matter the amount of blackmail and lies, it will not prevail,” Umahi said.
Recall in his tour to various States, Umahi had in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State Capital, last Wednesday vowed that roads under his watch can never fail again.
The Minister had said there is no reason why “our roads should fail after three years if proper procedures were followed when the roads were constructed.”
The Minister had explained that “the normal procedure is to put subgrade first, sharp sand, then stone base, before exposing the road to truck pounding for 30 days and there after apply concrete to the road. This is the only way to solidify the construction work and ensure that the roads last minimum of 10 years before any maintenance issues.”
According to him, it is the duty of the contractors to maintain roads they construct for at least 10 years after construction, as it is done in other climes. The Minister cited Singapore and Ghana, among others as case study to concrete road construction.
The Minister had said all that is needed in the South South and South East is stone or concrete road construction and not Asphalt.
He lamented that it is only in Nigeria where roads fail after three years of construction, vowing to put a stop to such fund consuming venture, which he said is in line with President Bola Tinubu’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda.’
“Eleme Junction/Onne Road must be reconstructed, the Federal Governnment has released N33billion for the job and the road was designed on concrete. That design must be strictly adhered to,” the Minister had said.
The Minister told the contractors that he has suspended the Controller of Works in Port Harcourt for professional misconduct, pointing out that his Deputy has taken over until the matter is addressed.
The Minister equally threatened to sack any civil servant who tries to sabotage or conspire with contractors to frustrate any ongoing road project.
“Civil servants are the problem of this country. They connive with some contractors to blackmail the Federal Governnment. No proper supervision of our road projects. How can contractors be issued with certificate of payment when jobs are not well done?” Umahi had queried.