Umahi questions contractor as flood destroys newly renovated Kano-Maiduguri highway

The Minister of Public Works, David Umahi, has approved the demolition of section three of the recently renovated Kano-Maiduguri Highway due to flooding.

In a statement by the media adviser to the minister, Orji Uchenna Orji, Umahi said it was unfortunate that completed roads in the country do not last for five years.

Umahi said a technical team from the ministry had been sent to the scene to assess the situation. He promised to find a lasting solution for the road.

He also announced the termination of Section 1 of the Kano-Maiduguri road, which had been allocated to Dantata & Sawoe Ltd since 2007, due to lapse of time.

“I instruct the director of highway rehabilitation to contact the permanent secretary of the Ministry of Public Works to immediately deploy some technicians to evaluate what we can do there. It is very unfortunate that when a job is completed by contractors, we only get to enjoy the road for five years and we are back to square one.

“That is why I said that this issue of a one-year liability period is not desirable because any job done badly can last for one year but not for five years. So we are going to ask the contractor who did the job, Mothercart Ltd, to join that team and find out why the road had to be cut in two as we were told today, and that is section three of the Kano-Maiduguri road.”

Speaking at a review meeting with Dangote Group of Companies Plc, BUA Group of Companies Plc and Mainstream Energy Solutions Ltd on the road construction projects under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme, the Minister said there are plans to review the liability period for all Federal Government projects to ensure sustainability and value for money.

He highlighted the progress made so far in financing critical projects under the tax credit scheme and called on all contractors executing projects under the tax credit scheme to make more concerted efforts to complete all awarded projects in record time as the projects fall within the country’s economic corridors.

He said that in future, agreement would be reached on completion of milestones and timeline for the various ongoing projects being implemented under tax credit.