Senate orders contractor to stop work on Otuoke road project

IRKED by the level of work on the 16 kilometre  Otuoke Road project in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, the Senate Committee on Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Projects, has ordered the contractor handling the project to stop work and vacate site immediately.
The Senate Committee, which was on an inspection tour of various NDDC projects in Bayelsa State, expressed anger over the poor performance of the contractor handling the road project which connects former President Goodluck Jonathan’s country home, Otuoke, with Yenagoa, the state capital. Chairman of the committee, Senator Peter Nwaobushi, who stated this in Yenagoa, said that the contractor, after collecting N600 million mobilization for the project, reduced the scope to six kilometres, without any agreement with NDDC, yet with no appreciable work on ground to match funds so far released by the commission. The committee also expressed displeasure with the slow pace of work at the Akenfa Canal Bridge in Yenagoa, the state capital, however, admitting that the delay was caused by the non-release of funds to the contractors. On the hostel project located at the Niger Delta University, NDU, Amassoma, the Committee lauded the contracting firms for their work pace despite the re-design of the project to include drainages to allow easy passage of rain water.