Ebonyi State Governor Francis Nwifuru has appealed to the federal government to take immediate action and complete all the abandoned federal projects in the state.
According to him, these abandoned projects have subjected the people of the state to untold hardship.
Governor Nwifuru made this statement on Thursday while flagging off the 29th National Council on Works meeting hosted in the state.
The governor also noted that the timely completion of the proposed roads would bring the state into the limelight. He further commended the federal government for its intervention on some roads in the state, including the ongoing dualization of the Abakaliki-Enugu Federal Highway and the proposed coastal road that will traverse from Ndibe Beach to Abakaliki, and extend to Benue and Nasarawa states.
“We want to draw the attention of the federal government to a number of abandoned federal projects, especially the Abakaliki-Afikpo Road.
This has subjected our people to untold hardship, and we urge the Federal Ministry of Works to take immediate action to complete these projects,” he stated.
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In response, Minister of Works Sen. David Umahi said that to improve Nigerian roads, the ministry has abolished surface dressing and price variations by contractors handling various road projects across the country.
“It is our responsibility to improve the state of our roads. Mr. President is committed to working on abandoned projects, especially those within the economic zone.
We have abolished surface dressing in the Ministry of Works because within one to three months, the surface starts failing. We have also abolished price variations.
Regarding mobilization, we have established conditions to prevent mobilization without execution. Training and re-training of our supervisors are crucial. The gains from this conference will be evident in our progress in road infrastructure,” he said.
