The Federal Government has commended the speed of contractors undertaking the rehabilitation of the 199.50-kilometre Kaduna-Pambeguwa-Jos road currently at 18 per cent completion stage.

Mr Folorunsho Esan, the Director, Highway Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH), gave the commendation at the inspection of the road in Kaduna and Plateau states on Thursday.

According to him, the contractor is working and had achieved a lot within the little time of being on-site 10 months ago.

“The quality of work is satisfactory, we have 35 kilometres of binder and if you do not look properly you would think the job is finished. We are still expecting another layer on top; 18 per cent of work is done currently.

” When you think of the time of completion, you would think of the funding that is available, the funding has to match the time frame and we are trying with what we have to ensure that the project is completed within the next 12 months.

“It involves the provision of the existing 199.50 kilometres asphaltic concrete single carriageway as the main alignment in Kaduna and Plateau states with a spur from Saminaka to Bauchi border.

“It also involves the maintenance of existing bridges along the road with different spans. The contractor of the project Setraco Big Ltd complained that insecurity was the main challenge confronting the project.

Esan said although many things were competing for the same funds, the government was doing all it could to ensure that the project was completed in good time.

On his part, Mr Adebayo Taiwo, Director, Highway North-West, said the project was economically viable to the nation.

“This road cuts across how many states, starting from Kaduna and going towards Jos border and there is also a spur to Bauchi. So there are a lot of economic impacts.

” Agricultural areas and all those things are involved, and the rural communities to are well connected. You can see that there is a particular location we passed now, where there is a settlement, with a drainage system.

“That makes them easily accessible to Kaduna and if they want to go to Jos too, they can easily connect to agricultural products and economic value,” Taiwo said.
On the monitoring of the project, Taiwo said there were delegated officials that monitored the work to ensure that standards were not compromised.

He said though there were security challenges, the contractor with the support of the ministry, had taken steps to ensure the safety of staff and equipment.

Mr Mustafa Janet, Project Manager, Setraco, in charge of the project, said they had no issue with funding, adding the company had the support of the communities in the area.

” All the communities are cooperating with us and by the grace of God, we will deliver the work on time. We continued with the regular funding with the help and support of the nearby communities.

“If there is regular funding and there is no more challenge, all technical issues with the project and we keep having the support of the communities and the Federal Ministry of Works, we will deliver the work on time.

” You know when the rainy season comes, we have to reduce the speed of work to deliver the best quality on the work.”

The project, which has 24 months for completion, is valued at over N38 billion.

It commenced on Jan. 27, 2021, and is expected to be completed by Jan. 26, 2023. It’s funded via the SUKUK fund.

The inspection is part of a two-day exercise that includes Section II Kaduna -Zaria interchange.