*CCECC To Repair Damaged Sections Within 14 Days
THE Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ordered the arrest of the managing director of Hartland Nigeria Limited over the contractor’s failure to complete the 11-kilometre Asaba-Onitsha road project, despite receiving about N14billion for the project, which covers the stretch from Summit Junction in Asaba, Delta State, to the Head Bridge in Onitsha, Anambra State.
A furious Umahi, who issued the directive on Thursday, August 27, during an inspection of the First Niger Bridge and adjoining road projects, decried the contractor’s slow pace of work, accusing it of abandoning the project after completing only about 40 per cent of the agreed scope.
The minister, accompanied by the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, and senior officials of the ministry, expressed concern over the deteriorating condition of the road and vandalisation of critical bridge components, directing ministry officials to track down and arrest the Hartland chief executive, insisting the contractor must return to site and complete the project.
According to the minister, the agreement with Hartland was for the completion of the entire 11 kilometre stretch, including the channelisation and hydraulic structures, saying the level of work achieved so far was unacceptable.
Umahi also ordered the ministry to recover funds paid to the contractor through the banks and directed a comprehensive review of all certificates and payments linked to the company’s projects.
He further instructed ministry officials to immediately repair failed sections of the road around Head Bridge, observing that the poor condition of the route was worsening traffic congestion and increasing hardship for motorists.
The minister lamented the destruction of critical infrastructure by vandals, saying it had reached an alarming level and government could not continue to spend scarce resources repairing facilities only for criminals to destroy them.
He disclosed that vandals had removed expansion joints, bolts and steel from the First Niger Bridge, including an overhead steel component vital to the structure, saying the damage was more extensive than initially portrayed on social media, thereby making urgent remedial work necessary and urgent.
He, therefore, charged officials to weld damaged components that could be salvaged and replace missing steel and bolts, as well as undertake immediate milling and asphalt works on affected sections of the bridge.
Umahi, an engineer, explained that the bridge’s movement or shaking did not automatically indicate structural failure, noting that bridges were designed with bearings to allow controlled movement.
He, however, said the heavy dead load caused by asphalt would be addressed during the repair process, noting that government was considering restricting traffic on the bridge at night to allow repair work, and reopening it during the day to minimise disruption.
To forestall further vandalism, the minister announced plans to install solar-powered streetlights and CCTV cameras along the bridge, adding: “We are going to have solar lights fixed all through. We are going to have CCTV here, and the CCTV is going to be downloaded to your phone.
“We are going to appoint people that it will be downloaded to, liaising with the police, so that if we see anybody, day and night, we can act.”
He urged Nigerians to protect public infrastructure, insisting that vandalism was not a political matter, but a national threat requiring collective action, describing theft of iron components from concrete roads, parapets, bridges and other public facilities as reckless and unacceptable.
He directed ministry controllers to arrest individuals involved in illegal dredging and contractors who abandoned dangerous road sections without protecting motorists and other road users, and contractors handling the Asaba bypass to provide proper drainage on both sides of the road to prevent erosion and protect adjoining houses from destruction.
Umahi commended Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, for paying compensation to property owners affected by the Second Niger Bridge access road, saying his action showed commitment to the welfare of Deltans and would help accelerate the project, while easing traffic pressure in Asaba.
He warned that contractors would be held accountable, assuring Nigerians that the government would take firm action to ensure public projects deliver value.
The minister also inspected a failing section around the third abutment of the Second Niger Bridge, following concerns raised by a social media user, who he commended for bringing the issue to the ministry’s attention, saying the prompt report had enabled officials to inspect the affected portion and take steps towards addressing the problem.
The minister also directed the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to immediately repair damaged sections of the highway in Delta State within 14 days, expressing concern over the condition of the Ubulu-Okiti and Onicha-Ugbo sections, as well as the hardship being experienced by motorists.
He said: “I am giving you 14 days to fix the access, the service lane you removed the asphalt. You have to fix it immediately, whether you are paid or not. It is my right to insist that you fix it to lessen the problem of the people.”
Umahi said the affected sections, covering about four kilometres of dual carriageway, should be repaired under an emergency arrangement to ease the suffering of road users, adding that though his ministry has the capacity to repair the affected sections within 14 days, it was constrained by the existing concession agreement governing the road.
He also criticised the manner some portions had been handled by the concessionaire, bemoaning that asphalt removed from sections between kilometre eight and kilometre 15 had not been properly restored, while some newly laid asphalt had reportedly failed within 24 hours, a development he described as evidence of poor workmanship and inadequate knowledge of road construction.
He assured that the Federal Government would continue to explore lawful ways of intervening where necessary to protect road users and safeguard economic activities across the country, even as he commended CCECC for the quality and pace of work on the project, saying its performance was impressive, despite the funding constraints.
Earlier, Aniagwu, who represented Oborevwori, commended Umahi for personally inspecting the troubled sections of the road, saying the condition of the federal roads from Benin through Asaba to the Niger Bridge and from Benin to Warri had become a major concern to Nigerians.
Aniagwu said the minister’s intervention demonstrated that the Federal Government was listening to the complaints of road users, adding that the state government had also intervened in some areas along the corridor, including the construction of a flyover around Chainage 64 to 65.
While expressing hope that contractors handling other sections would accelerate their work ahead of the Yuletide, the commissioner said such would ease traffic congestion, improve movement between Delta and Edo states and boost economic activities along the corridor.
The Director of Highways, Bridges and Design at the Federal Ministry of Works, Saidu Musa, said the Second Niger Bridge access project was awarded in March last year at a cost of N148billion and about 4.4 kilometres of dual carriageway had so far been executed, while work was progressing on retaining walls, culverts and other sections of the project.
He commended CCECC for the quality of work achieved so far, saying progress would have been significantly higher if the contractor had received adequate funding.
