2 years after, 1km work on AbujaLokoja road not completed
TAn indigenous construction company, Dantata & Sawoe, which is handling the project, commenced work between Gwako village and SDP Junction in Gwagwalada two years ago but it is yet to complete it.
For two years, motorists have been constrained to use the opposite lane, thereby leading to congestion and sometimes crashes.
Motorists Moses, who said he plied the road from Gwagwalada to Zuba daily, lamented that the delay in completing the work always resulted in heavy traffic jam.
Moses said travellers were always held up for several hours, adding that several lives were being lost as a result of dangerous overtaking.
He said, “In fact, sometimes motorists who are coming from the Lokoja axis have to make a U-turn and pass through Kuje before arriving the city centre whenever there is traffic jam between SDP Junction and Gwako village.”
He said since a section of the road was blocked early last year, residents of Giri, Anagada and Tungan Maje going to seek medical attention at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital (UATH) in Gwagwalada were usually caught up in the gridlock.
He added that the gridlock was usually worst when articulated vehicles broke down or crashed on the road, and that some motorists had to drive through the pedestrian walkway and bush paths before arriving at SDP Junction.
Another motorist, Abdullahi Bala, said it was unfortunate that the Federal Ministry of Works failed to give priority to the Abuja-Lokoja Road since the assumption of the present administration.
Bala said the neglect of the only road which connected the South West and the North was quite worrisome, saying several lives had been lost in accidents and some patients had also died while been taken to the hospital.
He said travellers were always held in the gridlock, especially on Fridays and Sundays, when some were travelling for or returning from the weekend.
“During last year’s Christmas and Sallah, the second lane was opened after officials of the FRSC went to talk to the construction company to decongest vehicular movement,” he said.
He, therefore, appealed to relevant authorities to expedite action on the dualisation, saying the traffic situation might worsen during the Christmas period.
A staff of Dantata & Sawoe confided in our reporter at the company’s office in Abuja that the delay in completing the dualisation was due to nonrelease of funds to the company.
He said since the company was awarded the second lane of the road between Giri Junction and Sheda in Kwali, the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing mobilised the company only once.
“When mobilisation was given, the company decided to start work from the Gwako axis because of too much potholes. But since last year when work started, it also stopped because workers had to be paid and the ministry is yet to make payment to enable work continue,” he said.
Similarly, work on a bridge at Kwaita village along the AbujaLokoja Road, which is on the verge of collapse following heavy flooding three months ago, has not received attention yet.
Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) which is handling the work on the bridge has barricaded the second lane of the road and diverts motorists to Giri Junction.
Some motorists that spoke with our reporter expressed frustration over the delay by the construction firm to work on the bridge.
A motorist, Michael Ayuba, said since the construction company diverted the road, there was no day that passed without an accident along the road.
He said instead of the construction company to divert the road at just one kilometre, they diverted it at a distance of five kilometres, which he said was responsible for frequent accidents.
He expressed fear that if urgent steps were not taken by the ministry to work on the bridge, especially as Christmas approached, the second lane might block and lives would be in danger.
Ayuba appealed to the ministry to mobilise the construction firm back to site so that work on the bridge would start and finish before Christmas.
Some parts of the road have remained uncompleted, while the completed sections are riddled with potholes.
The FCT Sector Commander of the FRSC, Ayuba Wobin, also expressed concern over the delay in completing the road.
A source from the Federal Ministry of Works, Power and Housing who pleaded anonymity, explained that because the contract was awarded long ago, cost of materials had gone up as dollar exchange went and the contractors needed to do cost variation of the project.
“The money actually paid to them wasn’t enough and additional cost needed to be added so it is that amount that was recently approved by FEC.
“But as it is, the approval has to go through different process before payment can be made and we have also invited all the contractors working on the major roads so we can see how work can continue on these roads to ensure a comfortable trips for December travellers,” he said.