From Our Correspondent
Sen. Ahmed Alkali, Minister of Transportation, on Friday, scolded the contractor handling the reconstruction of the Port Harcourt–Maiduguri narrow gauge rail project.
Fielding questions from newsmen in Port Harcourt, Alkali described the project as “disappointing”.
The minister was in Rivers to inspect the work sites in Port-Harcourt and Kom-Kom Community in Oyigbo Local Government Area.
He berated the contractor for using poor-quality material, expressing doubts about the contractor’s capacity to complete the project in record time.
The minister was visibly angry, saying the project had only attained 45 per cent completion after 12 months.
“I’m here in Port Harcourt in continuation of my inspection visit of all the railway projects across the country.
“This inspection started from Lagos; we moved to Kano to inspect Mararadi and then to Daura to inspect Transportation University.
“So, we are in Port Harcourt to inspect the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri reconstruction and rehabilitation of the eastern narrow gauge,” Alkali said.
He expressed disappointment in what he had seen so far, saying that the federal government signed the contract for 36 months, covering over 2000 kilometres.
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“So far event from Port Harcourt to Aba is just around 47 per cent.
“Ideally, it is supposed to cover 47 per cent of the entire 2000 kilometres. This means that, by now we should be around Plateau State or so. Yet, we are still struggling to be in Abia before the end of the year.
“I am not happy, in fact, I am disappointed. They are using manual alignment to lay the rail tracks in this 21st century.
“In this era of technology, if you are not ready for something, don’t even start it.”
According to him, the federal government is to provide 18 per cent of the funding, while CCECC should provide 85 per cent.
But since it started, he said, it is only the government that has funded the project to 15 per cent.
“It shows how unserious the CCECC is in terms of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Project.”
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