PDP chieftain, Engr Uwem Okoko has commended Governor Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom for his confidence and patronage of indegenous contractors in the state.
Okoko, who is also the Managing Director of Hensek Integrated Services told journalists shortly before the commissioning of an 9.4km 10 lane dual carriage road in Uyo by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar in Uyo yesterday that this have helped to improve their competence, empowered the contractors and created employment for youths.
He said the road with a 7m deep covered drainage system has not only challenged him, but has also brought out the best in in his company and showed that indegenous contractors could do better than foreign ones when given the right support and platform.
“I want to thank His Excellency, because I I don’t see any government in Nigeria that would have awarded this kind of contract to not just an indigenous contractor but a local contractor from Akwa Ibom, so my sincere appreciation goes to him for taking the risk to award this contract to Hensek.
“I remember in 2019 June when there was flood problem in Akwa Ibom, and His Excellency came , visited the flood site at Ifaha, Timber Market, he came here and that time this road didn’t have form or shape and it was nothing to show. But he said Hensek I have the pressure to terminate this contract but I believe sincerely in your ability to deliver this job and he said to me, ‘the best response to blackmail is performance.’
“We have a lot of good competent indigenous contractors, and Kudos to the governor, he has patronized many of us including Senyang and others and we are all doing quality jobs.
“Presently Hensek has grown because of the Governor’s patronage. We have over, 1000 staff, we have over 150 Trucks, over 150 Catapillars, we have the manpower, the technology, we have the best Asphalt plant in this State, brand new from UK.So Hensek has the capacity to do all these projects, it is no magic, it is about capacity.And we commended the Governor for believing in us.” He explained.
Okoko further said that the road is made up of more than 5km drainage tunnel and 10lane, 9.5 km dual carriage and designed to last for a “lifetime”
“The tunnel is all the way from Ifa to Ibesikpo and underneath, 7m deep is a flood control tunnel, that is why before you used to see flood at the Timber market road but you can’t see the flood at Ifa basin, His Excellency, awarded this contract not only to de-flood ring road three but also neighbouring communities”.
“The concept of the median was designed by His Excellency , ‘Engineer’ Udom Emmanuel when he came in 2021 for a road inspection, he said the median is wide and we can turn it into a jogging lane for people and have protection, we incorporated it into the design.” He explained.
On the eight lane Uyo-Airport road expansion project, he said a flood control tunnel is currently being built that would control floods in the built up sections of the road and ensure that water is properly discharged at an outfall.
The expansion project Okoko said would be completed in April next year.
