FG gives contractors 14-day ultimatum

Contractors building federal roadways have been given 14 days by Minister of Works Sen. David Umahi to return workers and equipment to the site or face termination of their contracts.

During a meeting with all contractors handling federal roads on Wednesday in Abuja, the minister issued this warning.

Contractors who do not follow the instructions and submit their work by the due date will be fired and replaced, he said.

Umahi also instructed the contractors to stop impeding the government’s efforts to implement concrete technology in place of asphalt.

He argued that concrete highways are necessary, citing the fact that the President has built one in Lagos.

Yesterday he jogged my memory on this subject. When you build this paving, there needs to be a guarantee, and I think Nigerians will agree with us on that.

We’ve gone over the building tools and stipulated that there needs to be an eight-dossier set of tools at least every 30 kilometers.

In keeping with ongoing site works activities, we have two graders, four excavators, twenty trailers, and many other construction equipment. Umahi said that Nigerians needed a single, high-quality highway.

He continued, saying the plan to utilize concrete was already underway and could not be halted until he was removed from his position as minister.

The Minister has promised to crack down on contractors who shortchange the Federal Government and ordinary Nigerians by using thinner asphalt than required.

Contractors, stop lying to us about the asphalt’s depth! The imported bitumen is already of low quality before you add enhancer and modifier to it. There is nothing like that in other countries, and we hope it never happens again. Try the asphalt they use in other countries.

I feel like I’ve held enough meetings on this topic, and now it’s time to move on. I have some advice for the contractors who are currently gathering in a cabal. We now know that some of you are planning to undermine me in order to disprove my claims that concrete is harmful.

“That’s not true at all, concrete is fantastic. Check out the contractor’s progress at the Lagos port. Visit my state to see my work for yourself. The concrete roadways are in excellent condition and are still in use.

There is no meeting that will convince us to abandon the principles and policy of the Ministry of Works, thus it serves no constructive purpose for you. This plan is already underway, and the only way to halt it is for Mr. President to remove me from office.

The board of directors got together this morning and decided to raise the price, and I agreed to it. This offer only applies to Trunk A. That cost is going to be on a different design, so trunks B and C can’t take advantage of it,” he explained.