Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori, has charged contractors working on state government projects to speed up work in view of rising construction costs.
Speaking during the inspection of ongoing construction works at Uduere Road, Okogbe Road, Oyakhinagha Street and Edo Street, all in Ughelli at the weekend, Governor Oborevwori frowned at some contractors delay projects only to seek upward review, and warned that such reviews would only be done by taking into account the percentage of work already done by applicant contractors.
Oborevwori, who was conducted round the projects by the Commissioner for Works (Highways and Urban Roads), Comrade Reuben Izeze and his Rural and Riverine Road counterpart, Mr Charles Aniagwu, said the Ughelli Ring Road contract was awarded on August 8, 2023, to help decongest traffic from the Otovwodo junction. He urged the contractors to speed up the pace of work.
Governor Oborevwori said: “I have come to ascertain the work that has been done so that we know how to channel our funds. I said during my inauguration that we will consolidate on existing roads and also award new ones and this road is part of the new roads that we initiated and awarded.
“Let me emphasize that the contractor must hasten up because if they continue to slow down, when the rain comes, it will wash away the sharp sand on the road.
“If they can fill and compact during this dry season and stabilise the road, we won’t have problem during rainy season. Because of the nature of this area these drains are very necessary to help evacuate water from the road and without these drains the road will not last.
“The challenge here is that the Otovwodo people dump refuse on drains; so, I want to appeal to the residents of this area to stop dumping refuse in the drain to make the water flow freely.
“I am satisfied with the quality of work I have seen today but am not satisfied with the pace of the work because, in three months from now, we are going into the rainy season and that’s my challenge.
“So, I am appealing to the contractors to see how they can work faster. We know prices are going up; so, they should not delay. When you delay, you are still going to do the work; so, why the delay? If you are waiting for upward review before you do your work, you are making a big mistake because we will look at the extent you have worked before any review. So, if we want to do upward review, we will do it according to the extent of work done.”
The Governor, who was also at Uti Road, Effurun, Lower and Upper Erejuwa Road, Warri, Storm Drainage Project site along Niger Cat Link Road and Refinery Road, commended the contractor for doing a good job on the storm drainage, saying, “I am very happy coming back today to see that this storm drainage has been completed. They did a very good job here and that’s why we are giving them another work to do. In the last Exco, we approved the Phase 3 of the Warri/Effurun storm drainage and we are happy about it.”
On the Lower and Upper Erejuwa Road, Oborevwori observed that the contractor had done well, even though the pace of work was slow, and advised the contractor to speed up work because of the imminence of the rainy season.
“This road is very key because it was constructed over 50 years ago. I decided to expand the road because it was already congested and I urge the contractor to speed up the work because the people using this road find it difficult to access their houses now.
“Now that we have a very good weather, it is an opportunity for the contractor to work very fast. There are some obstructions and fences obstructing the work and they have already been paid compensation; so, they need to bring the obstacles down so that they can finish their drains.”
He also appealed to residents to stop dumping wastes in the drains, adding, that the contractor had completed the work and was about to de-silt the drains because of the upcoming rains, adding that “once they are done, we will inaugurate the storm drainage.”
At the Ohorhe – Adagbrassa – Okuediete Road with a spur to Ugwagba – Okan junction, he said that before the road was awarded on August 4, 2023, it was quite bad and not motorable.
His words: “We felt that the road serves a lot of communities hence we decided to do it and I am happy that 90 per cent of the project has been completed. They have completed the asphalt overlay, with only just a few drains remaining and once that is done, the project will be ready for inauguration.”
At the Ojiedi – Okuighele – Evriyen – Oviri Court Road in Okpe Local Government Area, Governor Oborevwori expressed optimism that the road would be completed in April in readiness for May 2024 inauguration.
