Minister inspects SUKUK projects, expresses satisfaction
Minister of State, Budget and National Planning, Mr Clem Agba on Wednesday, inspected the SUKUK funded the Benin-Auchi-Okene road project in Edo and expressed satisfaction at the pace of work.
Agba told journalists during the inspection of the road at Ewu junction, section three of the road, that the contract for the three sections was awarded in 2012 and abandoned by past administration.
He said the three sections of the road which were the Okene-Auchi section two, Auchi-Ehor section three, and Ehor-Benin section four were part of the 44 sections of roads funded by SUKUK fund across the country.
“This contract was first awarded in 2012 by the previous government. However, they were not funded and not much work was done. So there was need for argumentation because a lot of things had changed.
“The current value of the contract is N100 billion for the three sections and we have put in about N30 billion so far.
“What this current government has had to do is to borrow funds to complete the road to avoid spending more in the future if abandoned.
“ These three sections are part of the 44 road sections across the country that we are funding with the SUKUK fund.
“In terms of the pace of work, I’m satisfied, the quality of work in terms of the bridges, drainage, culvert and the flyover being constructed at Ewu junction are up to specifications,” Agba said.
The minister said what he was doing was to monitor and evaluate to see if the fund appropriated was adequately utilised.
Agba explained that the timeline for the project would depend on availability of funds.
“There are challenges, so giving you a specific timeline becomes a problem.
“Part of the challenge is that people begin to ask for unnecessary compensations and we have to deal with all that for progress to be made.
“As I speak now, they are looking at doing some detour around Ekpoma just because we cannot find a place to channel the water.
“We just want to do the right thing and ensure that the funds provided takes care of the situation that we have on ground,” he added.
The minister, however, noted that the section two, Auchi-Okene part of the road was 80 per cent completed.
