By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike has thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for supporting Abuja’s critical infrastructural projects as he affirmed May as the official delivery date.
Wike emphasized this on Saturday, when he carried out a routine inspection visit to several ongoing infrastructure project sites in the Territory.
The following sites the Minister visited include the construction of the Southern Parkway S8/S9 from Christian Centre to Ring Road I (RRI), the construction of the Vice
President’s official residence as well as the completion of Road B6 and B12 and Circle Road in the central area of the city.
Others are the Provision of Engineering Infrastructure to Wuye District, Full Scope Development of the Arterial Road N20 from the Northern Parkway to Outer Northern Expressway (ONEX), and the Rehabilitation and Expansion of the Outer Southern Expressway from Villa Roundabout to OSEX /Ring Road 1 Junction, including four numbers of interchange.
Giving his general assessment of the project sites visited, the FCT Minister expressed satisfaction with the quality of work and said that the contractors have reaffirmed their commitment to complete the projects by May this year.
He said, “We have been to six sites today. We went to the Southern Parkway, which is being done by Setraco and the contractors have reaffirmed that that project will be handed over to us, first week of May or thereabout.”
“Then we went to the VP’s residence which is being handled by Julius Berger and they have done not less than 90 percent. By the grace of God, it will be handed over to us by May.”
“Then we went to B6, B12, which is also handled by Julius Berger. You can see they are quite confident and the way they are working, they are going to also hand over that project this May.”
“We now drove to Wuye District where the engineering infrastructure is being carried out by Arab Contractors. Of course, you can as well say they are 95 percent ready. They have made their commitment that that will be handed over.”
“Then we now moved to N20, which is being done by Gilmor. I can say with the level of work, I believe by the second week of May, God willing, they will also hand over that project.”
“Also we are here at OSEX which is being done by CGC. We’ve seen the level of work and they’ve appealed to residents, particularly on Interchange 1 that they have to divert traffic and the public should bear the inconveniences. It’s just temporary inconveniences for the good of everybody.”
According to the minister, the projects sites visited were in addition to other projects that are set to be completed and handed over by May this year as he stressed that adequate funding has been provided for the contractors to complete the projects.
He stated, “For us, these six projects are not the only projects we are expecting to be handed over to us in May. We believe that after the public holiday on Monday, we are meeting with all the contractors on Tuesday to know how much they are ready and then on Wednesday, we are also going to see some sites at Guzape and other areas to see the level of preparedness.”
The Minister noted that the essence of the regular visits to the project sites was to ensure that the contractors adhere to the agreed standards.
Furthermore, he who also spoke on the need for leaders to always fulfill the promises they made to the citizens, adding that doing so will provide a valuable framework for harmony in the society.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has fulfilled the promises he made to transform the FCT and thanked the President for his support.
The Minister said FCT residents were very happy with the impact of the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President, adding “Nigerians can see that the President has done well. The promises he has made to transform Abuja is coming out successfully and there is no need to doubt.”
“I want to say, I speak for Abuja and I’m happy with the support Mr. President is giving. The contractors can say that funding is not a problem. I have always asked, just like I asked CGC here, that I hope funding is not a problem and they said it’s not a problem.”
The Minister reiterated that the FCT Administration will not abandon ongoing projects, adding that new projects will only be embarked upon when there is budgetary provision, irrespective of the pressure to do so.
He said, “I promised before that we will not allow projects to be abandoned. Where we don’t have funds, we don’t need to award contracts. It doesn’t matter the pressure that may come”, the Minister said.
