The federal government has berated the contractor handling the construction of the Port Harcourt- Maiduguri narrow railway gauge, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), over the slow pace of work.
Minister of Transportation, Senator Said Ahmed Alkali, who spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt shortly after inspecting the project, wondered how the contractor would cover over 2000 kilometers from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri in 36 months, when they were still struggling to get to Aba from Port Harcourt in 12 months.
He said he had inspected rail projects in Lagos, Kano, Maradi and the Transportation University in Daura, Katsina State, adding that he was in Port Harcourt to inspect the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri reconstruction and rehabilitation of the eastern narrow gauge.
Alkali said; “I am disappointed in what I have seen, because this contract was signed for 36 months and it’s to cover over 2000 km. So far even Port Harcourt to Aba is around 47 percent.
“Ideally, it is supposed to cover 47 percent of the entire 2000 km which by now we should be around Plateau or so, and yet we are still struggling to be in Aba before the end of the year.
“I am not happy, in fact I am disappointed. They (contractor) are using manual alignment to lay the rail tracks in this 21st century. In this era of technology, if you are not ready for something, don’t even start it.
“Funding was made for 15 percent to be provided by the federal government while 85 percent is to be provided by CCECC, since the project started the funding was only done with the federal government’s 15 percent, so that shows how unserious the CCECC are in terms of the Port Harcourt-Maiduguri reconstruction and rehabilitation project.”
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