Senator Yeroe, Lau inspect Jalingo – Numan Road projects
Story from Ahmed USMAN, Jalingo
Over the weekend, the Deputy Chairman Senate Committee on Works and Housing, Senator Shuaibu Isa Lau (PDP) representing Taraba North and Senator Binos Yeroe (PDP) representing Adamawa South in the Senate paid a visit to the construction site of the 103 kilometer Jalingo – Numan road to assess the level of work done.
The contract for the reconstruction of the road was awarded in July 2017 at N11 billion to Deux Project Ltd and scheduled for completion in 20 months, but more than six years now, only eleven kilometres of the road has been done.
Shuaibu Isa Lau who is the Deputy Minority Leader in the Senate decried the rate at which the contractor handles the project, describing it as “highly disappointing” with the construction of only eleven kilometers in six years, an average of two kilometers per year.
According to the Senator, the visit was to assess the level of the work done and have first hand information on what causes the delay in executing the project. He revealed that the company handling the construction has assured that work on the project would take positive dimensions in the next couple of months.
Also speaking, Senator Binos Yeroe expressed dissatisfaction with the rate at which the work is being handled in the project. But he was optimistic that with the assurance of the construction company, there would be progress in the work in the next one to two months.
He added that they would make sure that the company has access to the needed funds for the project in order to continue with the work on the road and promised that they would be back to the construction site to see the level of the project.
In his remarks, the representative of the company handling the work, Deux Project Ltd attributed the delay in the project to security challenges at the time of awarding the contract and funding lately. He however assured that with the relative peace in the area and assurance of funding from the visiting lawmakers, the company would go back to the project site soon and the work would reach appreciable level in no distant time.
The Numan-Jalingo road is a federal highway stretching about 103 kilometres across Adamawa and Taraba states, It is a major road that links the North-Eastern part of the country with the entire Southern part but it is one of the most neglected roads in the country, and has being described as a death trap because of its dilapidated nature.
It is believed that with the commitment of these two senators – Isa Shuaibu Lau and Binos Yeroe as well as the efforts of Minister for State of Work and Housing, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo who is from Taraba state, the problem of Jalingo – Numan road will be solved soon.