Julius Berger Nigeria Plc has been urged by the Federal Government of Nigeria to speed up its completion of the two ongoing projects which includes the rehabilitation of the 82-kilometre Section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano dual carriageway and the construction of the Bodo-Bonny road with bridges across the Opobo Channel, Route 430 in Rivers State.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi emphasized that the government can no longer engage in prolonged negotiations with the contractor regarding these projects.
According to the statement he issued through his Special Adviser on Media, Uchenna Orji, during a meeting with Julius Berger representatives, Executive Director Benjamin Bott and Contract Management Head Omonigho Brown , Mr David Umahi stressed on the need of contractors handling federal projects to prioritize Nigeria’s interests over profits, especially during these economically challenging times
He revealed that the Federal Executive Council (FEC), has approved contract review and cost reductions at its September 23 meeting.
“We have Section II, which is 82 kilometres by two, which is the section that JBN Plc is working on.
And so, if you check what FEC approved on September 23, FEC had approved that the total contract sum within the scope of Berger would be N740 billion. This means that if you remove N391 billion paid already, you now have about N340 billion remaining. This is the scope of their work for the 164 kilometres.”
Minister David Umahi also instructed the contractor to commence work on the Abuja-Zaria-Kaduna-Kano project’s four sections, aiming for completion within 14 months.
Eniola Jolaoso