Kwara State government has threatened to order the consultant and the contractor that constructed the N3.5 billion diamond underpass flyover in Ilorin to site over a failed portion of the project.
It is recalled that the flyover, located at the entry point of the state capital, was constructed and commissioned by the immediate past administration in the state in its twilight.
Speaking with journalists when he inspected the failed portion of the project, the state commissioner for Works, Rotimi Ilyasu, said that the state government would also explore what it could get back from those concerned.
“There are many projects like that. This is a job that was initially awarded at N2.5 billion and rose to N3.7 billion. The contract passed through the state executive council, which approved it and gave the contractor approval. And those that did it on behalf of Kwarans”, he said.
The commissioner said that the state government would repair the bad road as part of its responsibility in power, adding that the repair would remove the expected sufferings of the people plying the road.
“Government has everything to lose when we pursue the legal option. People will suffer effects of bad roads. So, we look at how to mediate by calling the contractor back to site as well as the consultant on this job to ensure proper work was done. But in the interim, we have to do what we are supposed to do. That’s why we brought in stone base materials. We will also do some other bad sections of the road where asphalt has cracked. Compaction was not properly done, because it was a rushed job due to the intention to hurriedly commission it.
“The present administration has a lot of jobs to be commissioned right now. But we are not rushing. We have to give Kwarans the best. We will make sure we complete the jobs to standard before we do commissioning or else we will end up wasting funds. We’re learning from this also”, he said.
The commissioner, who said that the project was not certified by the state ministry, added that the materials used to construct the road were not adequate and that the development resulted in the quick failure of the road.
He also said that it was because the civil servants in the ministry saw that the work was poorly done that made them not issue certificates of good completion.
“I’ve looked through the files, the ministry did not certify the job as properly done. The stone base work was done on some portions of the road with graders rather than pavers because of the expected height you have to achieve; (100mm or 10 cm). What’s done here is not up to 2cm of stone basing.
“On this kind of road construction, experts use stone base as top material because that has a better property to handle weight compared to clay used here. When you use clay for trunk ‘A’ road like this, you will see expansion and contraction whenever it rains and it gets hot. When people drive on it, you bounce and cracks later set in on the road as water is allowed to penetrate. Quality materials were not used here”.
The commissioner, who argued with the past administration on allegations of lack of maintenance by the present administration, described the allegation as face-saving, saying that the drainage was very free and not blocked.