The House of Representatives Committee on Works has threatened to demand revocation of the Abuja-Kaduna-Abuja road contract due to delays in its execution by Julius Berger PLC.
The committee said it might be forced to ask the government to re-award the contract to several other contractors to ensure that the project is completed within the life span of the current administration.
The committee expressed disappointment with the pace of work in the Abuja-Kaduna road nine months to expiration of the deadline for completion.
The committee members were particularly disappointed after about 27 months since the commencement, less than 10 percent of the work has been completed.
Abubakar Kabir Abubakar, the Chairman of the House Committee on Works, who spoke on Friday, August 28, 2020, while inspecting the project as part of the Committee’s oversight function, however, told the contractors, Julius Berger, they must deliver on the contract by May 2021, which is the terminal date for the contract.
He said the House will not accept any extension of the completion date or a variation of the project, adding it was disappointing there no satisfactory progress on the work.
However, the North Central Zonal Director of Works in the Federal Ministry of Works, Kunle Yusuf, told the Committee that 40 percent of the work on section one of the project covering about 62 kilometres has been completed even when work was yet to commence on over 100 kilometers of the road.
Section one of the Project is about 165 kilometers.
Kabir said despite lack of funding for the project as attested to by the contractors, they have not shown any form of seriousness in completing the project saying “N155 billion is no small money”.
He said if the company lacks the capacity to deliver the project on schedule, it should be revoked and re-awarded to several other companies so that it will be completed on schedule.
Source: The Nation
