Delta Govt. reads riot act to road construction firms

Delta State Government on Monday, said the era of impunity among contractors handling some road projects in the Ministry of Works, was over.

Commissioner for Works in charge of Urban and Highway Roads, Comrade Reuben Izeze, stated this while inspecting damages done on a portion of the drainage system in the ongoing Ughelli-Asaba dualization project, caused by a firm handling internal road projects for the state government in the locality.

Izeze who was visibly upset over the development, stressed that any attempt to sabotage the vision of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori in delivering quality projects in the state would be resisted.

He queried the contractor awarded a nearby construction of Kwakagbor community internal roads and flood control projects, opposite Summit Junction, Asaba, Reginalo Nwachukwu Enterprise, for encroaching into the Asaba-Ughelli expressway without proper clearance from the department in charge of Highway roads in the Ministry.

The Commissioner immediately directed the relevant officials in the Ministry to interface with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the contractor handling the Ughelli-Asaba dualization project to remedy the situation.

Stressing that the firm that caused the damages has no capacity to address the problem on ground, Izeze stressed the importance of every project to the state Governor, Sheriff Oborevwori.

He said ‘’let me make this unambiguously clear. The era of impunity is gone; it is gone for good. The covenant of Governor Oborevwori to the people of Delta State is MORE. It is a covenant that he made before God and Deltans and that covenant must be fulfilled’’

“For everything that this government pays for, we must extract value for every penny irrespective of whose ox is gored. The era of impunity is gone. There is law and order now. We cannot descend to the Frankenstein era; it will not happen. Everybody is equal before the law.

“There is no special citizen and if you (the contractor) have such a notion, it is a fallacious misrepresentation. There is a new Sheriff in town”, Izeze emphasized.

Director, Urban Roads, Ministry of Works, Engr Solomon Akpotohwo, who conducted the Commissioner round, explained that the contractor did not seek the ministry’s consent before tampering with an already finished project.

‘’The contractor did not seek the ministry’s consent before coming to the site to tamper with an already laid project, which is why the commissioner is angered. The commissioner has also affirmed that they (contractor) do not have the capacity to correct the damages done.

“The affected portion is of 165m length of drainage on the Asaba/Ughelli to connect with the Kwakagbor Road project to discharge water from the community.

Representatives of the firm explained that the portion of the drain system collapsed while seeking ways to connect flood control channels from the Kwakagbor community to the discharge point around the Koka junction, Asaba interchange.