By Ijendu Iheaka
January 19, 2017
Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, on Friday in Aba said that the Osisioma interchange would improve access to Aba markets for the small and medium scale industries in Abia and other traders from surrounding states.
Ikpeazu stated this while flagging-off the construction of the N4.1 billion interchange located at the Osisioma junction in Aba.
“The Osisioma interchange is a project we conceptualized out of the need to reduce traffic at this location because we are running on pillars which revolve around trade and commerce and the development of small and medium scale enterprises.
“So we try to leverage what we have to help our shoemakers, our garment makers and our traders, we decided to focus on road infrastructure because if you are unable to move personnel and goods from one location to the other with speed, then you are just paying lip service to whatever you want to do in terms of trade and commerce and development of small and medium scale enterprise.
“We want to reduce the time it takes for somebody from Enugu to access Port Harcourt and the hinterlands within Aba”, he said.
The governor promised to ensure standard materials were used to do standard work on the project and swore to change the contractor if he failed to do a standard job on the interchange.
He assured that nothing would stop the project unless it was completed adding that his determination to complete the project led to government’s provision of Advance Project Guarantee with fund in the bank for the contractor.
He also told Abians that having grown the state’s Internally Generated Revenue from N600 million to N1 billion, they would see more of such development projects across the three senatorial districts of Abia.
The Commissioner for Works, Mr Eziuche Ubani said this was the first interchange that was being done by the government noting that two more at Waterside and Alaoji were yet to begun.
“The idea is to make traffic seamless in and out of Aba. This place (Osisioma junction) does not look like the entrance into Aba.
“There are people who come from Bayelsa and Port Harcourt to buy goods. they get stuck here and because the people have started using here as a market, we want to stop all that so the impact of the project is more important to me than the time of completing the project.
“We have a first cost outlay of N4.1 billion. That will include taxes, VAT, administrative cost, security cost and all the levies inside the N4.1 billion”, he said.
The Zonal Manager for China Zhonghao Nigeria ltd, the construction company handling the project, Mr Zhuang Wei told our reporter that the work would be completed in about 2 years time
Wei said that his company would guarantee a lifespan of thirty years and more for the bridge stressing that if they could not handle the project satisfactorily they had no business remaining in Nigeria.
He said the road would be made passable for road users around the place adding that the construction would not disturb traffic on the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway.
The Chairman, Abia Traditional Rulers Council, Eze Eberechi Dick said that the project was the first of its kind in Abia and thanked God for making it happen in their time.
He thanked Ikpeazu on behalf of Abians and the royal fathers for making the project a reality ad prayed that he would complete the work.
No comments:
Post a Comment