•Declares: Govt’ll enforce what law says
From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Minister of Transportation, Saidu Alkali, has expressed dissatisfaction with the slow pace of reconstruction and rehabilitation work at the Eastern Narrow Gauge rail line being handled by Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC).
He has also said that government would enforce whatever the law has stipulated concerning the contract after reviewing his findings.
Alkali frowned at the contractor (CCECC) for exclusively utilizing the 15 percent funding provided by the Federal Government, while withholding the 85 per cent counterpart funding from itself, thereby showing their unseriousness in handling the project.
The minister expressed his disappointment during an inspection visit to work sites in Kom Kom community in Oyigbo Local Government Area and Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend.
He said: “I felt if you (CCECC) are not ready for something, don’t even start it. The funding was made on 15 per cent to be provided by the federal government, while 85 per cent to be provided by CCECC. So far, since the project kick-started, the funding is only done with the federal government component of 15 per cent.
“So, that shows how unserious CCECC is in terms of the Port Harcourt – Maiduguri reconstruction and rehabilitation project.”
The minister regretted that the project, which was stipulated for 36 months, had only attained 45 percent completion after 12 months.
He minister expressed doubts about the capacity of the contractor to complete the project on record time and described the company as unserious.
According to him, the contract was signed in 2021, but construction started in 2022, arguing that, if the contractors could not cover Port Harcourt to Aba in 12 months, he wonders how they can cover over 2,000 kilometers in 36 months.
Alkali expressed: “I am disappointed with what I am seeing because this contract was signed for 36 months and it is to cover over 2,000 kilometers.
“So far, even Port Harcourt to Aba, the project is just around 47 percent completed. Ideally, it is supposed to cover 47 percent of the entire 2,000 kilometers, which by now, it should be around Plateau or so. And, yet, we are still struggling to be in Aba before the end of the year.”
He also expressed disappointment that in this era of technological advancement, the company was using crude (manual) method in carrying out some of the jobs.
“When I came where they were laying the rail lines, you can see they are using manual alignment to align the slippers; in this century, during this era of technology?”
Speaking on the significance of the project, the minister said the project when completed would link both ports in Rivers State to Maiduguri State, and reduce the cost of trade in the country.
“The line is linking the two ports in Port Harcourt to Maiduguri, which would promote regional trading; the cost of trading would be very low.
“By the time we have started the passenger train, it would go a long way to cushion the effects of the petroleum subsidy removal.”