Second term: Bayelsa govt resumes road projects

Nathan Tamarapreye, Yenagoa

The Bayelsa State government says it has secured a meeting with a construction giant, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, to complete the dual carriage road linking Opolo Community in Yenagoa Local Government Area to Elebele Community in Ogbia Local Government Area to ease transportation of goods and services between Yenagoa metropolis and neighbouring communities.

Speaking to members of the Federated Correspondents Chapel (FCC) at the state Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, the Commissioner, Moses Teibowei, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Dr Johnson Dagana, said the government has also concluded plans to commence the construction of the Gloryland Drive Phase III, which is designed to link the Tombia-Amassoma road to a bridge at Imgbi Junction, Amarata, in the state capital.

Speaking further, he said the government considers the Gloryland Drive Phase III to be important because of the significant role it will play in connecting commuters from the East-West Road to the Yenagoa-Oporoma road in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

Explaining further, he said that the government has completed the sand filling and stabilisation of 16 out of 21 kilometres of Nembe-Brass Road, adding that the contractor has commenced work on the first bridge on the Nembe axis, while some culvert work has been completed.

He, however, lamented the fact that considering the changes in the economy of the nation, the increase in the price of building materials has affected the bill of quantities for projects prepared by the government, saying that most of the roads earmarked for construction are currently undergoing variation and that the expectation of government to engage in new contracts has been limited.

He said; “The Opolo to Elebele, that road has been handled by Julius Berger, and as I speak with you, we have invited Julius Berger for a meeting tomorrow with a view of mobilizing them back to the site. That is why the meeting is being called and we believe that after tomorrow’s meeting, they will go back to the site to complete that project.

“It is the entire job they are going to do. Right from Opolo by the market, that is where the road starts from. We will keep on working from that angle. The first time they came, they left because of the elections. Now that we are back and the election is over, this time we are back to governance and of course government is to ensure that infrastructural development that will affect the lives of the people is put in place. We are having that meeting with them tomorrow and at the end of that meeting, they are going to mobilize back to the site.

“The Nembe-Brass Road we have so far, we have completely done sand filling of the entire stretch of the road and we have done some level of stabilisation and of course, they are to commence the first bridge on the Nembe axis. We have sand filled about 16 kilometres and some parts of the culvert work have been completed. They are on site for the first bridge.

“Over time, considering the changes in the economy of the nation, it has affected the prices of building materials and every other thing, even food items. The bill of quantities because they work with the bill of quantities that have been prepared. Most of these roads, the bill of quantity has been prepared earlier before now and when things like this come up, there will be a need for variation due to the hike in the prices of building materials in the market.

“It has affected the projects because the government expects to also engage in new contracts and the inflation has made the government limit it to the existing ones. We cannot engage new ones because we need to have money to also take care of the variation taking place. We cannot be able to engage new contracts for now.

“The reason why the state government is trying to do a single dual carriage road now is for the fact that it has to ration income in a way that we can be able to tackle other projects. That is the best decision that the state government has taken.

“As it is now, we have made it in a way that a single carriageway should be handled because of the limited resources available so that other projects can go on. Now that we have been able to complete that one, the government will look into it and before the end of this year, it will take up the other carriage.”