Minister threatens to terminate Karshi-Apo road contract

The FCT Minister, Musa Bello, has threatened to sack the contractor handling construction works on the Karshi/Ara/Apo alternative route linking the Abuja city centre to the northern axis of the country.

The minister, who expressed sadness that work on that road had remained uncompleted against all expectations, said the administration was trying to see how it could overcome the challenges being faced by the current contractor.

He, however, warned that the administration might be forced to look for alternatives if the challenges persisted.

His words: with respect to Karshi/Ara/Apo road, quite frankly, I had thought that by now, we would have completed that road. But unfortunately, the contractor handling the project has been faced with a number of challenges, which we are trying to overcome. Ultimately, what will happen is that if we are not able to sort out the issues of the contractor, we may have to look at some other alternatives of making sure the road is completed. But you can be rest assured that that road is a priority project for this administration. We will try as much as possible to see that it is completed as quickly as possible.”

The minister, however, called on the Army Post-Service Housing Development Limited and indeed all other mass housing developers to ensure that all the housing schemes that they embarked upon adhered strictly to all the housing regulations in the FCT to make the process of individual title documentation and certification a lot easier.

While noting the intervention being done by the Army in area of providing housing facilities for its officers and men, Malam Bello said the interventions had brought a lot of benefits to both retired and serving members of the Army, as well as the civilians.

He said the FCT Administration would continue to provide all the needed support so that the Armed Forces could continue to develop, strengthen and deliver on its various mandates.

On illegal sales of plots, the minister warned that no individual, entity or community was authorised to sell land but he gave an assurance that the administration would give Certificates of Occupancy to individual beneficiaries of houses within Mass Housing Projects in the territory.

He said, “as a policy, we are working out the modalities whereby all the estates within the FCT, every house and every flat will be issued a C of O because that’s the only way you can make the properties more flexible in terms of ownership, in terms of transferring title and even as a way of investment and store of value.”