By Danzumi Ishaku, Jalingo
Taraba State government has ordered the contractor handling the 230 Klm Bali-Serti- Gembu road to resume work immediately, an official has said.
Mr Irimiya Hammanjulde, Commissioner for Works in the state stated this on while speaking to newsmen in Jalingo.
Hammanjulde said that the directive became necessary considering the enormous importance of the road to the people of the state as well as the construction of the gygantic hydro electrical power project located on the Mambilla Plateau.
The commissioner said that though the job which was awarded since 2013 by former Gov. Danbaba Suntai had been suspended by the contractor who sought for a review of the project.
He explained that the contractor demanded for review due to increase in the cost of construction materials occasioned by the effect of Covid-19 pandemic.
He said that Gov. Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba who insisted that his administration would continue with projects he inherited that could impact positively on the lives of the people, ordered the contractor to resume work immediately.
According to Hammanjulde, the process of the review of the contract is in progress.
He said that the administration of Ishaku was constructing over 700 Klm of roads in the state.
He said that the figure included both Federal roads constructed by the state as well as state roads under construction.
He also said that while some of the roads had been completed, others were still undergoing construction in deferent parts of the state.
He mentioned some of the roads as the 82 Klm Mararaba Baisa Abong road, 30 Klm Wukari Tsukundi road, 30 Klm Mararaba Pantisawa- Pantisawa road, 230 Klm Bali-Serti-Gembu road.
Others he said included the 18 Klm NYSC-Pantinapo dual carriage way, 16 Klm Kona phase two dual carriage way and many other township roads that had been completed and commissioned during the first term of the administration.
He gave clarification that the NYSC-Pantinapo dual carriage way cost N34 Billion due to the construction of a Fly Over, Nukkai bridge as well as various pedestrian bridges.
He said that the work done was fast and qualitative inline with the original project design.
He expressed satisfaction and optimism that the work would not be reviewed further due to the speed at which the contractor was executing the project.
He also said that the contractor handling the Mararaba Pantisawa road project had reviewed the work from it’s initial N6 Billion to N7 Billion due to the effect of Covid-19 on construction materials.
Hammanjulde said that road construction had covered all the three senatorial districts in the state, adding that the selected roads were considered based on their enormous economic importance to those communities and the state in general.
He appealed to the people of the state to support the administration to complete all these ongoing projects before the expiration of the administration.
He also eulogized the people of the state to live in peace with one another so as to enjoy giant stride achievements recorded by Gov Ishaku.
