There are strong indications
that the Federal Government may award the contract for the full construction of
the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway next month Daily
Independent gathered from a
top official of the Ministry of Works at its headquarters in Mabushi, Abuja, of
the new development.
The fresh
contract is expected to gulp about N150 billion, with Julius Berger taking the
lion share of about N100 billion, while RCC Nigeria Limited will get N50
billion.
Julius
Berger is expected to do Section One of the road from the Old Toll Gate from Lagos
to Shagamu, while RCC would do Section Two from Shagamu to Ibadan.
According
to the official, who did not want his name mentioned, the ministry may announce
the new contract before the end of June. He added that this is subject to the
approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), which has already received
briefings from the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, on the latest move by
the ministry to get the contractors back to site.
It was
reliably gathered that the hue and cry by concerned members of the public,
especially motorists who ply the route, over the neglect of the road since the
contractors, Messrs Julius Berger Plc and RCC, moved out of site on January 31,
may have prompted government to decide to award the contract in June.
Daily
Independent further
learnt that the new contract would slightly be different from the revoked one
with Bi-Courtney Highways Services Limited (BHSL), which was based on Build,
Operate and Transfer (BOT), and was to last for 25 years. Feelers from
the ministry indicate that the new contract would be a wholly owned road by the
Federal Government.
When Daily Independent sought the views of Director of
Highways (South-West), Kabir Abdullahi, he declined to comment on the matter or
the amount that would be required to fix the road.
Source: Daily Independent
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