The Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Engr. Funso Adebiyi, stated this during an inspection of the project site to assess the progress of work.
He expressed satisfaction with the quality of work done so far, noting: “We are working to increase the pace of the work. You can see that work is going on simultaneously on all sections of the dual carriage 375km long Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road.”
He explained that the road was initially billed for rehabilitation but the Federal Government later chose to embark on full reconstruction of the expressway. He appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government to deliver a quality project that would stand the test of time.
Adebiyi also appealed to road users to bear the discomfort being experienced on the highway now as a result of blockades and diversions, stressing that it was unavoidable wherever a construction work of such magnitude was going on coupled with the volume of traffic on the road.
On the level of work done, Adebiyi noted: “We have made appreciable progress. You can see that over 100km though not at a stretch, have been completed under section one to three (Abuja-Kano); 40km completed under section two (Kaduna-Zaria), and 70km completed under section three (Zaria-Kano).”
He pointed out that while some sections of the road were at different levels of completion, palliative/remedial works were being carried out on some critically dilapidated sections to facilitate the movement of motorists.
“It is important that we correct the wrong impression by the people that work is not moving. We are working to meet up with the deadline and at the same time subjecting all the work to quality assurance test to deliver a good job,” he added.
The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road reconstruction project was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc on December 20, 2017. The project commenced on May 21, 2018, with 36 months completion period.
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