The Federal Government says ongoing dualisation of the Zaria-Funtua-Sokoto Road scheduled for completion in 2027, will not be impeded by insecurity.
Director of Special Projects, Umar Bakare, gave this assurance during an inspection of the project in Funtua by the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
After touring all four sections of the road, the Minister expressed satisfaction with the overall pace of work but advised one of the contractors overseeing a section to enhance efficiency.
Unahi emphasised that he and his team have made technical decisions during the inspection and are poised to swiftly implement them. The road project is anticipated to be completed by 2027.
Meanwhile, the Federal Government says it is committed to also completing ongoing expansion of Gusau-Sheme and Gusau-Sokoto roads into dual carriageways within the 50 months stimulated for the projects to reduce travel times for Nigerians.
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi stated this while inspecting the ongoing construction of the Gusau-Sheme and Gusau-Talata Mafara Road projects, where he said he was satisfied with the quality and speed of work done.
Umahi said he was in Zamfara State, North-West Nigeria at the instance of President Bola Tinubu to inspect the ongoing construction of the Gusau-Sheme and Gusau-Sokoto dual carriageway to assess the quality and speed of the work, and to ensure the contractors carry out the work to specification.
He warned all the contractors to redouble their speed of work to exhaust their mobilisation because the Federal Government will not pay for any variation of the project within the mobilisation limit, stressing that it is the standard of the Federal Ministry of Works and must be adhered to.
Acting Federal Controller of Works in Zamfara State, Kasimu Yusuf said that the third section of the road from Gusau to Talata Mafara was awarded at the cost of N237 billion while the second section of Gusau-Sheme Road was N195 billion with a total of 50-58 months completion period.
The Minister was at the Government House Gusau to meet with Governor Dauda Lawal to get the Zamfara State Government to pay compensation while the Ministry will relocate utilities along the road. Governor Lawal thanked the Federal Government for carrying out the dualisation of the road.
Umahi told journalists that the ongoing construction work has great deal of impact on the economy as it creates direct and indirect jobs for unemployed youths even as he commended Governor Lawal for the massive infrastructure development being carried out in Zamfara State.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
