Works Minister, Umahi clarifies policies on local contractors, warns against parking of trucks on roads, bridges

The Honourable Minister of Works, His Excellency, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON, FNSE, FNATE has come forward to made a stern clarification on the policies on the indigenous contractors’ jobs that are below 20 billion naira, noting that what ministry is saying is that the expatriate firms will no longer do jobs just below 20 billion, but that the indigenous contractors that are capable will always compete with the expatriate for jobs in millions and billions, so we are not limiting local contractors to jobs that are just below 20 billion.

Umahi said “But there are many indigenous contractors. They will compete for jobs that are below 20 billion. The bigger local contractors will also compete with expatriate for jobs that are above 20 billion.”

The minister made these clarifications while address the journalists after a comprehensive inspection on the Carter Bridge in Lagos, noting that his ministry also made a policy because when he was in River State and Abia States respectively, where he discovered that some contractors will put binders for 10 to 20 kilometers without putting wearing course.

He explained that the binder cuts are like a reinforcement on the road architecture, so the moment you allow it to stay without covering it with the wearing course for too long, then that road has failed.

“So, I am directing that the ministry of works officials with the scope to reverse all certificates issued to such contractors that have not covered the binders they put on our roads because I observed failures. Such contractors that have failed road projects risk negative certificates and we will recover such money from any of such jobs across the country that they are doing. We have warned severely on this,” he added.

He pointed out recently that roads will fail if contractors don’t use appropriate materials like a “binder” (asphalt) for road stabilization and don’t properly apply the “wearing course,” the protective layer on top of the asphalt, adding that failing to apply the wearing course allows water to penetrate the asphalt’s larger stones, reaching the base, causing the road to deteriorate and fail over time.

The minister had also observed that contractors sometimes lay the stone base and binder course but neglect the wearing course, leading to these failures.

Speaking in a related development, the minister stated that he observed all over the country that we have trailers, trucks and commuters parking on our roads and bridges, warning that this is dangerous because it is the reason we are having frequent damages on our roads and bridge infrastructure.

“This must stop. I was in Abia and Port Harcourt recently and discovered that even our newly constructed road from Eleme to Onne, there were several of very big trucks parking on our concrete roads. The concrete road is a rigid pavement and if you load one section very heavy against the other it will definitely crack. This is the dangers and when it cracks you will call the leaders and this is the danger. And you will say they collected money and did a bad job. It is the responsibility of us all to protect our national assets,” the minister emphasized.