Kunle SHONUGA
Mr Kannike Abubakar, Deputy Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Works, said the committee was satisfied with the quality of work on ongoing rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
Abubakar made the remarks when speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Umuahia, when the 15-member committee currently on inspection of federal roads in the South-East inspected Sections 1 and 2 of the expressway.
Section 1, which is being handled by Setraco Nigeria Limited, commenced from the boundary between Enugu and Abia to Abia Tower in Umuahia, covering 59.2 kilometres and valued at N30 billion.
Section 2, being handled by Arab Contractors, began from Umuahia to Aba, covering 56.1 kilometers and valued at about N50.89 billion.
Abubakar said that the committee was impressed with the quality and length of work so far done on the two sections.
He expressed the hope that the rehabilitation would be durable, given the reputation of the contractors handling the projects and the thorough job being done.
The lawmaker also hoped that the projects would be completed and delivered in time, if properly and adequately funded.
He promised that aside from their oversight on the projects, the committee would also recommend measures that could facilitate the speedy execution of the job.
The Controller, Federal Ministry of Works in Abia Chuks Nwankwo, who guided the committee on the inspection, said that the job was being executed in accordance with the specifications.
Responding to questions from members of the committee, Nwankwo said that work on Sections 1 and 2 had reached 45 per cent and 30 per cent completion, respectively.
He said: “We have been supervising the projects and we are satisfied with the quality of the job being done on both sections.
“The contractors are also keeping to the standard specifications provided in the designs.”
Meanwhile, the controller said that the construction of the two trailer parks on Section 1 of the expressway would commence soon.
Nwankwo said that the final design of the parks, covering about eight hectares on each side of the dual carriageway at Lokpanta in Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia, was awaiting minister’s approval.
“Work on the two parks will commence in full as soon as we get the approval,” he said, adding that payment of compensation to the land owners had been completed.
He said that the parks would have health centres and a shopping mall, among other facilities, and that it would help to decongest the road, when completed.
The motorists go through nightmare on both lanes of the expressway at Lokpanta, due to indiscriminate parking of trucks and articulated vehicles that convey cattle from the North.
