….says First Phase of Project will be Completed before 2023
The Governor of Oyo State Seyi Makinde has made it known that his administration will complete the 32-kilometre span, the First Phase of the Ibadan Circular Road, before the end of his tenure on May 28, 2023.
He stated this while touring the project, saying that his administration had to lay off the contractor inherited from the last administration due to an undesirable place of work.
The Governor said the contractor would not have been able to deliver the road in another 20 years if allowed to continue at a slow pace.
In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, he stated that the governor, nonetheless, pledged to pay the sacked contractor for evaluated work executed.
During the Governor’s on-the-spot assessment, only two kilometres of the 32-kilometre road had been tarred at the level of wearing cost by ENL Consortium Construction company.
He said: “We have terminated the initial arrangement. This is the road that we think will change the economy of Oyo State substantially but the previous contractor, if we had continued with their pace, maybe they may finish in another 20 years.”
Makinde remarked that the government has been requesting that the contractor carries out a joint valuation because his administration does not want to destroy anyone’s business, saying that the government will ensure that the contractor is reimbursed after the evaluation.
He added: “Now, we are asking them to do joint valuation because we are not here to destroy anyone’s business. Of course, money has been spent and we have to ensure that whatever has been put into this, we will reimburse the previous contractor.
“So, we have an appreciation of what we need to do to ensure that this kicks off almost immediately and then it can meet our target.”
He said that his administration will make sure that the road is completed and ready for us within his tenure, adding that the road will be concessioned but the government will have some involvement in it.
“This 32km portion must be delivered within this first tenure of this administration. We are still going to concession it because the previous administration left it 100 per cent to the concessionaire, which we thought was a mistake.
“We definitely will have some form of involvement of the Oyo State Government with a new concessionaire. We will take a certain percentage for Oyo State Government and, that way, the government is carried along every step of the way”
While speaking on the Old Ife/Airport/Sawmill Road, the governor said the contractor has just amended his schedule and that the job will be finalized in October 2021.
He declared that his government will repeatedly inspect and push contractors hard on infrastructure projects.
In his words: “They (the contractors) just revised their schedule and that job should be completed and delivered by October of this year. So, we will stay on their back and ensure it is delivered as scheduled.”
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