Rivers: Okania-Ogbogoro Road construction to gulp N6.7bn

From Chris Eze, Port Harcourt

The Rivers State Executive Council has given approval to the State Government to spend the sum of N6.7billion for the reconstruction of the 5-kilometre long Okania-Ogbogoro Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

The approval was given at the Council’s 7th meeting, presided over by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, with the Deputy Governor, Prof Ngozi Odu and other members of the cabinet in attendance.

The meeting, which was the second this year, held at the Executive Chambers of Government House in Port Harcourt on Wednesday.

 Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works, Engr. Atemea Briggs, explained that the road stretches from Okania through Ogbogoro to Ozuoba.

He noted that the road contract was initially awarded to Nugi Nigeria Limited on April 12, 2017, but was abandoned after preliminary works.

Engr Briggs said that with the abandonment, the road collapsed, making it completely impassable thereby constituting a major traffic challenge to motorists, especially now that works have intensified on the Port Harcourt Ring Road that traverses part of Ozuoba.

“The proposed Okania-Ogbogoro Road in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area is about 5kilometres in length. It is connecting Okania to the major Ogbogoro-Ozuoba Road. Presently, the state of the road is completely impassible; and it is filled with water.

“The project was previously awarded to Nugi Nigeria Limited on April 12, 2017, and partial work was done up until 2020 when the contractor abandoned the project”.

According to him, “From that time, until now, due to the neglect, the major sections of the road, including the internal community roads have all collapsed.

 “But presently, due to the outcry of the people around the area and commuters as a result of the on-going construction of Port Harcourt Ring Road, the road is considered for reconstruction.

“The Council has approved a total sum of N6,734,865,277.88 kobo only for the road contract award. The period of the construction is expected to last only five months,” he said.

 Also briefing newsmen, the Commissioner of Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said Council approved that the former contract with Nugi Nigeria Limited be terminated and the project re-awarded to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

Johnson stated that a 40 percent mobilization fees has been paid to the new contractor, CCECC, adding that the project would be funded entirely from savings in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the State.

He added that the State Government believes that it could fund virtually all its projects with savings from Internally Generated Revenue without necessarily borrowing from financial institutions because of its prudent application of scarce resources and funds to deliver good governance to Rivers people.

 The information commissioner also explained that the State Government has begun the distilling and clearing of the Nta-Wogba Creek to check flooding in the Port Harcourt City centre in the State.

He further said that the State Government would soon begin rehabilitation work on the failed sections of the Igwuruta-Chokocho Road to assuage the discomfort experienced by the people in the area.

On her part, the Acting Director General, Bureau for Public Procurement, Engr Ine Briggs, said the agency considered the six applications received from the Ministry of Works that outlined the estimates for the project, and issued a certificate of no objection after thorough due diligence was conducted on the applications.