By Monday Ijeh
Sapele – Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has advised Niger Delta communities benefiting from the ongoing Sapele-Agbor-Ewu road project to support the contractor handling it to ensure prompt completion.
Fashola gave the advice on Sunday in Sapele during an inspection visit to the Federal Government road projects in the South-South.
The minister said that the road was important to the Federal Government and urged the benefiting communities to be the trustees of the 110 kilometer road project.
He called on the communities to cooperate with the contractor to ensure that the project was completed in good time, giving assurance that issues of compensation would be resolved.
“You recalled that we went to Bodo-Bonny Bridge and from there we drove through Delta-Kaima–Ugheli and now we are in Sapele to inspect Sapele-Agbor road project.
“This is a project that was flagged off two years ago and nothing really happened since the flag off for reasons of political expediency.
“But the Buhari government has come, you can see that work is beginning to take shape slowly and we have heard the data of people employed in setting up the work here.
“The contractor is on site and I think in the next few weeks by the time you come here, there should be increased activities here,” he said.
Fashola said that the development of infrastructure was a lead factor to economic recovery, the current administration was on the right track pushing infrastructure button to restore the economy.
He said the idea was to create work to improve the ease and reduce the cost of doing business in the country.
“You see all of these in where we went through. Where there were no roads, we travel for longer hours. Where there were good roads, we travel for fewer hours.
“Where construction is going on, we saw people earning a living and all of these affect the cost of doing business and food.’’
The minister assured that the project would be completed, adding that the belief to build for value by President Muhammadu Buhari would not be compromised.
“ This president already has a reputation. If you go across the country, most of the roads that are still viable today were roads that he constructed when he was in charge of PTF.
“That is the reputation he builds to last and he builds for value, so we will not deliver anything less,” he said.