Delta govt assures completion of Boji-Boji/Otolokpo, Umunede/Owa-Alero roads project

An assurance has been given that the construction of  the 10.43 kilometres Boji-Boji/Otolokpo and Umunede/Owa-Alero roads in Ika North East Local Government Area of Delta State will be completed in October 2022.

The assurance which has elated the communities was  given by the state  Commissioner for Works, Urban and Highways, Mr Noel Omodon, while inspecting the projects, explained that the essence of the roads was to open up all the agrarian communities in that corridor for easy transportation of agricultural produce to the urban markets.

Respondents in Otolokpo, who spoke about the road said when completed, the journey from the community to Boji Boji , a commercial nerve centre in the state which takes over one hour would be done in few minutes.

The Works Commissioner had expressed satisfaction with the quality and pace in which the projects were being handled, even as he urged the contracting firms to take full advantage of the dry season to expedite action on the roads.

While reiterating government’s desire to complete all ongoing projects before the administration winds down, Omodion advised contractors handling projects in his ministry to maintain standards and specifications.

Earlier, the Site Engineer for Messrs  Sharpstone Nigeria Limited, the contracting firm handling the Boji Boji-Otolokpo road,  John Okonobe, explained that the 10.43 kilometres road was awarded in March 2021, adding that the first layer of earth works had been completed on the total length of the road.

According to him, the only challenge faced by the construction firm was insufficient length of drains due to some critical sections of the road where drains are needed to discharge into the borrow pit.

Okonobe however, said that an additional three borrow pits had been acquired where the other drains would be discharged into having exhausted the first three borrow pits.

Meanwhile, the contractor handling the triple cell box culvert on the rehabilitation of Old Lagos Bypass road linking the Expressway by Okpanam Junction in Oshimili North had been instructed to stop further works on the project and evacuate all precast drains immediately.

Omodon, gave the directive after  inspecting the quality of job done on the project.

According to him, he stopped the  work because he needed to compare what the contractor was  doing  with what the ministry had in its drawing so as to know what exactly was to be done.

Mr Omodon frowned at the quality of job done so far by the contractor, saying that the quality of the concrete done by the contractor might not withstand the weight of vehicles that will plying on it, even as he urged the contractor to meet with the Directorate of Project Monitoring to do a hammer test on the work done.

“I have had cause to question the quality of what the contractor is doing to see if he has got everything right because the governor has no tolerance for failure. He wants the people to get quality and sufficient service and benefit,” Omodon said.

The commissioner explained that the essence of the project was to collect all the water that come from Okpanam area and channel it to the other side so that it would pass through the natural water way.