Yemisi Izuora
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has after inspecting ongoing work at the 2nd Niger Bridge, expressed satisfaction at the level of commitment by the contractors.
The inspection is in continuation of his ongoing tour of federal government projects across the country.
“I am very excited because the thing about this project is that
because of the alignment, people travelling on the old bridge will say
nothing is going on because they cannot see it, but you have come here
and you can see the amount of work that is going on, so I’m very very
excited,” the Minister told the media representatives in his entourage.
Mohammed, who inspected construction work at the Asaba and
Onitsha ends of the bridge, said when completed, the bridge will ease
traffic congestion on the road as well as change the socio-economic
landscape of the South-east and South-South geo-political zones in particular.
He commended the enthusiasm with which the contractor, Julius Berger,
is handling the project and gave the assurance that henceforth,
funding will no longer be a challenge for the construction of such
projects.
“I think one thing that this government has assured is that funding
won’t be a problem because we have many sources of funding and I think
the latest is the Presidential Infrastructural Development Fund, which
is actually
aimed at ensuring that no project like this suffers for lack of
funding,” the Minister said.
He said having achieved tremendous success with the sub-structural
work, the project will now witness rapid progress.
While briefing journalists on the level of work on the bridge, the
Federal Controller of Works for Anambra State, Mr. Innocent Alumona,
said so far phases 1, 2 and 3, which have to do with the foundation,
have been completed, and that the contractor is currently on phase 4,
which will end in July this year.
“A lot of people are saying no work is going on on the Second Niger
Bridge because they have not been opportune to visit the site. The
Federal Government actually is not sleeping. A lot of money has been
spent in the process of realizing the Second Niger Bridge, and as we
go further, we will show you a lot that has been done to prove to some
of us – who are still doubting that nothing is happening at the Second
Niger Bridge – that a lot is ongoing,” he said.
Mr. Alumona said some 310 of the 615 piles designed for the bridge
have been sunk, while massive sand-filling of the approach road has
been carried out to the height of five metres.
At least 400 Nigerians are currently employed by the contractor
handling the project, which is expected to be completed within the
next two years.