Defaulting contractors will pay liquidated damages - Gov. Mbah warns
Gov. Peter Mbah of Enugu State has warned that contractors who failed to meet their deadlines for projects would pay liquidated damages to the state government.
Mbah gave the warning in Enugu on Wednesday while flagging off the 167.35-kilometre road projects across the three senatorial zones of the state.
“We want to assure you that we are not in the business of abandoning projects. We cannot take up projects that we have not budgeted for and projects that we have not secured funding for.
“We are equally particular about timelines because we have no tolerance for cost and time overruns. We freeze the cost and timeline.
“We agreed with the contractors on when to deliver, and if they fail to deliver, they will pay us liquidated damages,” Mbah said.
The flag-off, which began on Monday, saw Mbah announce the reconstruction and dualisation of the 43.7 km Penoks-Abakpa Nike-Ugwogo-Nike-Opi Nsukka Road with streetlights and an 18-month completion timeframe in Enugu North Senatorial Zone.
While on Tuesday, the governor again flagged off the construction of the 44.8 km Amah-Eke-Oghe-Iwolo-Olo-Umulokpa Road, traversing to Udi, Ezeagu, and Uzo-Uwani Council Areas in Enugu West Senatorial District.
The governor also flagged off on Wednesday the construction of multiple road projects totalling 78.85 km in Nkanu East and Nkanu West Local Governments in Enugu East Senatorial Zone.
The roads were expected to open up the economic corridors of the state and attract investment opportunities.
Some of the roads flagged-off at Enugu East Senatorial District include Amodu 9.30 kilometre Amodu-Akpugo road, five kilometre Amagu-Atakwu-Akegbe Ugwu-Akpasha road, and 3.12 kilometre Obuofia-Obeagu-Akegbe Ugwu road totaling 17.32 km in Nkanu West Council Area
Also, at Nara in Nkanu East LGA, the governor flagged off the construction of the 12.96 km Nomeh-Mburubu-Nara road, seven kilometres Nomeh-Oduma road, 7.20 km Mburubu-Nkereffi road, and 9 km Nara-Nkerefi road.
Others are 9.7 km Amagunze-Ihuokpara-Ugbawka Road, 8.67 km Akpawfu-Akpugo-Amagunze Road with a spur to Umuoma Onicha, and 6.90 km Isiogbo Nara-Isu Road, all totalling 61.43 kilometres.
Speaking at Enugu East senatorial district, Mbah said, “In the last few days, we have flagged off about 90km of roads and bridges across these various local governments. Today, we are here to again perform this all-important event of the flag-off.
“What we are about to witness in our various communities is an agricultural Renaissance. As you already know, we are setting up farm estates in different wards on a minimum of 200 hectares of land each.
“The farm estate would ensure that we take our agriculture potential to an industrial scale. So, our growth in agriculture will not just be for food. Agriculture for us will be a serious business and a major force for economic growth.
“We equally understand that if we are trying to attract cottage industries in our various rural areas, we must, as a matter of urgency, ensure that we have wide and paved roads.
“These roads are not only going to seamlessly connect Nkanu East to the West, but also Aninri Council Area and Ebonyi State,” he stated.
The governor assured the people that he looked forward to inaugurating the roads in a few months’ time.
The Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Mr. Gerald Otiji, and the Special Adviser to the Governor on Projects Development and Implementation, Mr. Uchenna Nwatu, assured the people of effective and intensive supervision to ensure quality delivery as demanded by the governor.
The Managing Director of GOWASK Engineering Limited, Hilary Abaratu, pledged to deliver the projects both in terms of high quality and the timeframe spelt out in the contract.
