During an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, residents of Abuja lamented the government’s low turn-up on the ongoing construction of the Apo-Karshi road that commenced years ago. Thus, the residents have called on President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to complete the Apo-Karshi road before the due time of the President’s regime. They further urge that the contractor in charge of carrying out the project should be remobilized back to the site to complete the job.
The Apo-Karshi Road project was commissioned to Kakatar Limited, an indigenous company, in 2011, with a completion period of 20 months. Meanwhile, it’s been over 11 years, and the project is yet to be completed. A worker at a federal ministry in Garki, Malam Hussein Ahmed, who also pushed for the road completion, stated that the government should consider the condition and health of the road commuters by ensuring the road construction is completed this time around.
A resident faults the state masterplan for the road congestion.
According to Mr Silas Nwachukwu, a timber dealer at Kugbo, the congestion on the road has caused several incidents and unfortunate occurrences where many lives and property were lost. He added that the incident occurrence, particularly during rush hour alone, was enough reason for the government to complete the construction. Also, an engineer who wishes to remain anonymous argues that the only way to address the congestion on Nyanya road is to construct an alternative.
Furthermore, Nwachukwu, who complained that the majority of the civil servants, workers and other residents commute the route simultaneously, causing congestion on the road, faulted the state masterplan for such occurrences. He encourages the administration to complete the road to demonstrate the last of its filial duty of ensuring a good working environment for the workers. Before the government moves its offices away from the city centre to other area councils, the Apo-Karshi road must be completed, Nwachukwu added.
The contractor was constrained by increased cost of tools and materials.
He, therefore, advocated that the road be made on a dual carriageway to address future expansions in the territory. However, Chris Ihedigbo, the site engineer of Kakatar, explains that the company was constrained in completing the project due to the high cost of tools and materials in the market. He stated that the company is ready to complete the project once the state administration agrees to the adjustment in the cost of the project.
Ihedigbo added that the company has received a green light on the state administration’s intention to complete the project before leaving office in May. He assures that once the variation is settled with the government, the project will be completed in 90 days. Moreover, Ihedigbo noted that the biggest hurdle was the vast hills that constituted an obstruction to the road, which has been looked into, and work would begin in earnest. Despite the level of work, some residents have been commuting the road like that.
Vandalism also contributed to the cause that delayed the project.
In addition, the site engineer also attributed the cause of the delay in the project to vandalism on the equipment and tools used in the process. He noted that these machines/tools stolen are worth millions of Naira. It is notable that months ago, the Senate Committee on the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) summoned contractors handling the Karshi-Ara and extension of the Karshi-Apo Road in the FCT, over failure to complete the project at the agreed time of 20 months as specified in the contract. The contractors claim that the material cost is now much higher than when it was commissioned in 2011.
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