Julius Berger gets eight-month deadline to complete Rivers road

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has said that the Julius Berger Nigeria PLC has a matching order to complete the 9.7km Ogbakiri Town (Clan) road project within the stipulated time of eight months.

Fubara said the socio-economic importance of the road to the people cannot be over-emphasised.

The road dualisation project begins from the Emohua spur on the East-West Road-Tema Junction, connecting about six communities within Ogbakiri Town and terminates at the waterside of Egbelu-Oduoha-Ogbakiri communities.

Fubara, who undertook an inspection ride on the road to the waterside on Tuesday, explained that his administration awarded the project at the cost of about N15 billion and had paid a 30 per cent mobilisation fee to the contractor in order to provide the people with a comfortable motorable road.

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.”

Fubara said his commitment was to improve the quality of life of all residents of the State, adding that those in Ogbakiri Town are no exception.

He also noted the plan in the offing to connect the road with a river crossing bridge to some riverine communities on the other side from the Egbelu-Oduoha-Ogbakiri communities.

He said, “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.”

Fubara assured that Rivers people, and indeed, all residents will have the best from his administration that will leave them eternally happy for their support to him.

Fubara also stopped by at the Captain Elechi Amadi Polytechnic at Rumuola near Port Harcourt where a number of projects including the Entrepreneurship Centre, Staff Office and Senate Building, are ongoing.

The governor said the Entrepreneurship Centre is strategic because it will serve the need for functional education that will develop the occupational skills of students to become productive citizens.

Fubara stated, “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. ”

Fubara expressed delight at the progress made so far and commended the chairman and members of the Governing Council for their commitment to changing the narrative at the institution.

The governor assured that his administration will sustain the support to them so that they can achieve their mandate and succeed in helping improve educational development in the State.