Gov. Lucky Aiyedatiwa of Ondo State has promised the early completion of the ongoing construction of the 7.8-kilometre ShopRite/Oda road in Akure South Local Government Area of the state.
Aiyedatiwa, who made the promise during an inspection of the road project on Sunday in Akure, said the rise in cost of construction materials contributed to the pace of the job.
The governor, who was represented by his Special Adviser on Infrastructure, Lands and Housing, Joseph Babalola, said the difference in cost price had to be accommodated.
“I am working hard to ensure that the infrastructure deficit gap is reduced, and I approved road projects for the three senatorial districts so that they will have a feel of our government.
“If you look at the infrastructure deficit, it’s so huge, but I am making efforts to ensure that every part of the state is being visited in terms of road infrastructure.
“We look at infrastructure deficit, it is highly enormous. By the grace of God, I have been trying to fill that gap.
“Oda Road is part of the projects inherited by this administration, though I was part of the previous administration led by the late Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu.
“The road begins from ShopRite as a dual carriage, which is 4km. The remaining part that gets to Oda is single carriage, but the width is 12.3 meter. The length is 3.8km, so the road is a total of 7.8km.
“On the single carriage, we have covered almost 1km now. As we discussed, the contractor will double the effort,” he said.
The governor explained that “the contractor will stone base another 2 km and lay asphalt so that within the next eight weeks, we would have gotten through with the Oda project.”
According to him, the Oda project is being monitored and targeted for commission, so we implore the residents to bear with us, the project will be completed soon.
“When we awarded the contract, the tonnage of reinforcement was N420,000, but now it’s about N1.4 million.
“But the contractor didn’t leave the site, he has been working and we have quickly corrected some things observed.
“The challenges are not different from what other contractors are facing at other sites,” he said.
Earlier, Engr. Funmilayo Oluwatayo. Director, Civil Engineering, Ministry of Works, explained that there was no way the contractor could have cut corners.
According to him, resident engineers and other quality control officers from the ministry are always on ground to monitor the project.
“Since the contractors began work, they have been working according to specifications and design of the road. Besides, we have our quality control men on ground monitoring the quality of jobs done.
“We also have our engineers, the resident engineers are permanently supervising the work accordingly.
“We are all aware of the changes in prices of construction materials, so the contractors can’t cut corners.
“Our specifications are also there, including the specification of the asphalt they are laying given to them at the asphalt plant by the Quality Control Department of this ministry.
“So, they produce according to the design given to them. We have our job standards to be done at the site, so the increase in prices of materials does not affect the quality of job done,” he said.
