Gideon Arinze in Enugu

The Senator representing Enugu West Senatorial District, Osita Ngwu has called on the federal government to urgently release funds to enable the contractor handling the old Enugu-Onitsha federal road complete the project.

Ngwu made the call yesterday, when he led members of the State House of Assembly and other leaders of the zone on a tour of the project being handled by Arab Contractors and the ongoing 9th Mile-Orokam road being handled by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC).

Speaking during the tour, Ngwu, who is the Senate Minority Whip, said that the old Enugu-Onitsha road, which stretches to Opi junction, through Ukehe-Okpatu-Aboh Udi-Oji from the Anambra Border, was awarded since 2019 and is one of the major roads that connects the southeast to the Northern region.

The senator noted that funds have been appropriated for the project at the senate, adding that what is left is for the Minister of finance to release the funds to the contractor for the project to be completed.

“If the government is not prepared to make funds available, then it shouldn’t award road projects in the first place,” he said. “And you cannot even talk about economic growth when the roads are bad,”.

Speaking further, he said “the state of roads in the region is part of the reasons why the people feel marginalized and uncared for by successive governments in the country and we cannot continue to fold our arms,”.

Also speaking, a community leader, Hyacinth Ngwu said that the dilapidated state of the old Enugu-Onitsha road has worsened the state of insecurity across communities, adding that has become easier for criminals to attack commuters who are often forced to slow down while travelling along the road.

In his reaction, the construction manager for the project, Ahmed Farouk said that the company’s efforts to get the federal government to release more funds to enable it to continue the project has not yielded results.

At the ongoing 9th Mile-Orokam road, which stretches across seven communities, from the Ama Breweries at 9th Mile to Ebe, Egede, Amoka, Affa, Umuoka, Ogbede and Opi Nsukka to Makurdi, the senator urged CHEC to ensure that it completes the project on time.

He said that the dual carriageway is being funded through a joint funding arrangement between Nigeria and China through a Preferential Buyer’s Credit loan from Export-Import Bank of China (CEXIM).

“For this project, funding is not an issue because the federal government has fulfilled its part of the bargain,” he said. “What is left is for the CHEC to complete as soon as possible to ease transportation,”.

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