Construction of the Birnin Yauri to Kontagora road is 80% complete. The CRCC Construction Company Limited is working on the 100 km Phase 1 of the Birnin Yauri to Kontagora road.
In 2013, the Federal Government awarded a US $55.6m contract for the construction of 100 km Birnin Yauri to Kontagora road and 85 km Kontagora to Makera road.
However, according to Qi Yong, Project Manager of the company, only 18 km of the route is yet to be completed.
Giovanni Bottista, Project Manager, GR Construction Company Nigeria Limited, said that the contract for the construction of 52.3 km Agaie to Katcha and Katcha to Baro roads started in 2014.
He said that the present administration paid a backlog of about US $5.6m for mobilization of contractors to site, adding that about US $2.1m has been expended so far.
According to Paolo Campanella, Project Manager of Salini Nigeria Limited, the present administration has paid US $19.7m out of the US $28.1m for the construction of phase 1 Minna to Suleja road.
The dualization of Minna to Suleja road is divided into two phases, whereby phase 1 contract is awarded for US $28.1m while phase 2 is awarded for US $64.6m.
According to Mr. Campanella, the Federal Government had paid 70% of the money for the construction of phase 1 and made an advance payment of US $9.8m for the construction of phase 2.
Road contracts
He added that the company will speed up work to 6 km full carriage per month and commended the present administration for the release of the Sukuk bond fund for the project.
Meanwhile, Iheanacho Umeh, Federal Controller of Works in Niger, said that the government awarded contracts for the construction of Kontagora to Makera and Birnin Yauri to Kontagora roads in November 2012 at the cost of US $55.6mSimilarly, Dayyabu Mamman, Zonal Director, Highways North Central, said that the federal government used the budgetary provision for 2017 to mobilize contractors to sites.
He added that the government will pay all outstanding obligations as soon as the 2018 budget was passed.
Mr. Mamman said that all contractors handling federal government projects in the North-central were back on sites.
Extract from ConstructionReviewOnline.com