NAN-H-91
Project
By Monday Ijeh
Abuja, Nov. 9, 2016 (NAN) Residents of Kuje and Gwagwalada Area Councils of the FCT have called for the intervention of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) in the completion of Kuje-Gwagwalada road project.
Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Kuje, decried the slow pace of work on the project.
Mr Dogo Dantani, a resident said the delay in the completion of the project was not in the interest of farmers, drivers and commuters in the area.
Dantani blamed the delay on lack of commitment on part of successive FCT administrations that awarded the contract.
He claimed that contract for the rehabilitation of the road had been awarded severally without execution.
According to him, the last administration again awarded the contract and commenced the execution but abandoned the project for reasons not known to residents.
“The contractor who only executed about 20 per cent of the project abandoned it and later returned after the emergence of the current administration.
“As I speak to you, the project has again been abandoned with complaints that funds were not made available by the government,” he said.
Mrs Salamatu Musa, another resident, accused successive FCT administrations of playing politics with the road.
Musa, a civil servant who lives in Kuje and works in Gwagwalada, however, appealed to the current minister to come to the aid of residents of the area.
She said that the deplorable state of the road was discouraging, adding that she had stopped driving her car to work.
She attributed the delay in the completion of the project to lack of political will and commitment on the part of past FCT administrations.
“Some members of staff of the construction company handling the project are our neighbours and their complaints have been that government has not released funds for the project.
“We are appealing to the FCT minister to make funds available for the completion of the project,” she said.
Similarly, Mrs Sarah Dikko, a poultry farmer residing in the area, said she had lost eggs worth thousands of naira due to the deplorable state of the road.
She that the lack of access road to convey their products, particularly eggs to the market, constituted a major challenge.
Dikko urged the relevant authorities to complete the project for the benefit of all residents and in line with their campaign promises to provide democracy dividends. (NAN)
IMC/GOM/NKO
============
Edited by Gregory Mmaduakolam/Nkechi Okoronkwo
======================================