Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has issued a firm deadline to construction giant Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, mandating them to complete the 9.7-kilometer Ogbakiri Town road project within an eight-month period.
The project, valued at approximately N15 billion, aims to significantly enhance transportation access and economic opportunities for the local communities.
Governor Fubara underscored the critical role of the road, emphasizing its potential to improve residents’ quality of life. The road, set to connect six communities from the Emohua spur on the East-West Road-Tema Junction, will ultimately extend to the waterside of Egbelu-Oduoha-Ogbakiri, promising better accessibility for those in this part of Rivers State.
During his recent inspection of the project, Fubara highlighted the government’s commitment to ensuring timely completion.
Governor Fubara revealed that a 30% mobilization fee, totaling N4.5 billion, has already been disbursed to Julius Berger to facilitate rapid progress. With this advance, the administration expects the company to meet the eight-month target, ultimately fulfilling a key promise of the governor’s agenda for infrastructure development.
He said, “If you could see, when we were coming in, at the centre of the road, the other side that leads to Tema in Kalabari, Julius Berger has already taken up that stretch.
“We felt it would be proper for them to also extend the good work they did on that other side to this side of the road so that there would be uniformity.
“For that reason, we awarded this job to them, and we have also paid them 30 per cent mobilisation, which is N4.5billion. The total cost of this job is about N15 billion. Last week, we paid 30 per cent for them to commence work on it. They have also assured us that in eight months’ time, this project will be delivered.”
“We made a promise to our people that we will continue to embark on projects that will touch the lives of our people.
“This is not a 1km road. It is not a 2km road. It is a 9.7km road at a cost of about N15 billion. So, you can imagine what we are doing to better the lives of the people here.
“I personally came to the waterfront to see what we could do to connect the other side of the river to this side. But we are working on it. Let us see by the time we are done with this, we will now decide on what to do about that.”
“As part of our programme; we assured the good people of Rivers State that we are not going to limit what we are doing to roads alone but will extend to the education sector.
“We discussed with the Governing Council on their inauguration, demanding to know what the basic needs of the school are, and they mentioned a lot of them – accommodation, office block and completion of the Senate Building that has been on for the past eight years.
“We assured them that we are going to do that, and we have already released 50 per cent of the cost for the completion, and also for other two projects that are ongoing.”
He added, “You are already seeing for yourself the foundation for the office block for the staff of the institution. They also have another one, which is about to commence, which is the entrepreneurship building for training of the youths.
“So, our promise to our people is very strong on issues of development. Not just in any other area but education and infrastructure development, and we are not going back on it. ”
