THE Federal Government has terminated the contract for the reconstruction of Benin-Sapele-Warri Road, being executed by Levant Construction Limited under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme due to non-performance.
Minister of Works, David Umahi, who stated this in Abuja after meeting with the chief executives of GELD Construction Limited and SKECC Nigeria Limited over delay in the execution of the project, expressed disapproval over the failure or neglect of Messrs Levant to live up to expectation in the contractual duties of the section awarded to them.
According to him: “We have three sections there. We have the Levant section. Unfortunately, Levant has not lived up to expectation. We even had to intervene and beg the Governor of Edo State to please get the worst sections of that route done. We divided the worst sections into two and told Levant to concentrate on one part.
“When the Governor of Edo State intervened, we think about 23 kilometers for N35 billion, and that section the governor intervened is ongoing very well.
“Levant has since left site. We gave them a series of warning letters. We also gave them the last termination notice.
“When a termination notice is given to you, it is for you within 14 days to go back to the site and begin to do those things you were not doing. This time is for them to remobilise to the site and for them to work, but they did not respond.”
He directed the permanent secretary to get the job properly terminated and write them a letter for a joint measurement, and also to write their bank to request for repayment of the APG, failing which the matter would be taken to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Umahi, however, expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the discussion with SKECC Nigeria Limited and Geld Construction Limited on the need for them to step up work on the respective sections of the road project being handled by them.
The minister stated: “SKECC has about one kilometre, which they started with milled asphalt. Yes, the money in the budget for SKECC within their own section, NNPC allocation is exhausted. But we are pleading with them to go back and remedy this one kilometre that they have milled the existing asphalt.”
He also commended the Governor of Delta State for various interventions and expressed commitment to the ministry’s mission of restoring the confidence of Nigerians on the road infrastructure nationwide to make them appreciate the transformational power of President Bola Tinibu’s Renewed Hope administration.
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