South-East roads are reference points when critical road matters are being discussed in the country and many leaders from the region have lamented this ugly trend until now, that President Goodluck Jonathan is giving it a due attention.Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, was in Anambra State recently to see for himself the state of disrepair of most of the federal roads in the state and kick-start the federal government's intervention on the roads as directed by President Jonathan.Jonathan is giving full support to the Ministry of Works to make the deplorable South-East roads motorable again. Roads were fundamental to the president's electioneering campaign promises in the region few months ago. And, true to his promise, the second Niger Bridge is being processed for award and execution. The Works Minister and his officials were recently at Onitsha to see the on-going rehabilitation at the bridge head and others, including the Onitsha-Enugu Road.After the inspections, the minister made observations on the drainage works being executed by Consolidated Construction Company (CCC), and gave them specific targets to meet. He informed the contractor that the present administration is averse to substandard jobs, and warned that the Works Ministry will not hesitate to review the contract and possibly terminate it, if the contractor failed to demonstrate adequate capacity on site to carryout the work diligently.On the Second Niger Bridge, the minister assured the people of the South-East zone that President Jonathan was passionate about completing the project in the life of this administration and within the next three years.When he first resumed office as minister, Onolememen did not hide his disdain for abandoned or uncompleted projects. As a result, he quickly paid attention to the reconstruction of Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja dual carriageway which sources said has not been accommodated in the subsequent budgets after it was first awarded in 2006, until 2009.For the minister, abandoned or uncompleted projects do not speak well of any government. This, he promised to ensure that massive road projects are broken down into milestones so that they can be completed in segments. For him, the Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Road project would have been more meaningful if it was awarded in segments.The stories of uncompleted and abandoned projects are not restricted to the issue of poor budgetary mechanisms alone. The Onitsha-Owerri Road is suffering the problem of neglect owing to the attitude of the contractor. This came to the fore when the Minister of Works visited the road to see for himself the efforts of the contractors.According to the minister, the entire stretch of the road was awarded to CCC (for Section One), and Julius Berger Plc (for Section Two). While Julius Berger has since completed its works, CCC, the contractor handling Section One, is still struggling to complete its work. This is why the warning given to the company is a welcome development, as it had deliberately refused to do its work because it thought there was no money to pay it after completion. Now that funds for the project have been released in full, all eyes are on CCC to prove its mettle. The evolving scenario may truly put the capability of the contractor to test, as there is no place to hide any longer!Now that the administration is beaming its attention on contractor readiness to cooperate with government, CCC is under pressure to complete its work, a project which has already been labeled a belated effort. An indication that these are new times emerged when the minister gave the CCC three weeks to complete the palliative works on the roads so as to free commuters of the chaotic traffic hold up on the road.He warned the contractors saying, if they (CCC) prove that they are not competent, prompt action will be taken against them, in line with the contract conditions. With the minister's directives, the CCC has redoubled its efforts to achieve the set targets and complete the first section of Onitsha-Owerri Road, which it deliberately left unattended to for a long the state, time.For governor, Mr Peter Obi, there is no need crying over the roads in the region anymore. In his words, 'This is the third minister I have been seeing regarding our roads here in Anambra State. Let me tell you, this is the final minister I am seeing because President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is committed to the total repairs of our roads. That is why the minister is here.
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