Ibadan residents criticise contractors' road construction delays
On Tuesday, commercial drivers, tricycle and motorcycle operators, and other road users expressed concern over what they called the slow pace of work by the contractors handling road construction in some parts of the Ibadan metropolis.
They also decried the hardship being experienced by road users through road obstructions and diversions in and around the roads currently being constructed in the state capital.
A cross-section of the residents who spoke with the correspondent on Tuesday said that the slow pace of work by the contractors was having negative impacts on their daily socio-economic activities.
Some of the residents, who reside on the Olorunsogo-Amuloko axis of the city, expressed concern with the snail speed at which the contractor handling the road was working.
They noted that not much progress had been made on the project, which was re-awarded to another contractor by the state government over a year ago.
Mrs. Toyin Olatunji, a civil servant, said the construction of the major bridge on the Amuloko-Akanran road took the contractor several months to complete, with residents facing serious hardship as the alternative route was narrow and not properly taken care of.
Olatunji said that driving on the road still remained a nightmare because of its deplorable state, occasioned by the slow pace of work on the road and lack of quality equipment.
Another road user, a commercial motorcycle operator, Rauf Adebayo, said that he had been patronizing mechanic workshops more than before to either change his motorcycle’s shock absorber or do other repairs.
Adebayo appealed to the state government to prevail on the contractor to speed up work on the road, as the inconvenience was becoming unbearable.
Also, some motorists plying the Monatan-Olodo road lamented the deplorable condition of the road, calling on the governments of Oyo and Osun states to commence the reconstruction of the road, which was flagged off by the two states several months ago.
Mr. Kunle Ojo, a landlord at the Olodo-Garage community, said he preferred going to work through public transport to taking his car owing to the deplorable condition of the road.
The residents, however, appreciated the Gov. Seyi Makinde-led administration for its giant strides in road infrastructure.
According to them, road infrastructure remains a factor in enhancing the economic prosperity of any state because of its vital roles in driving transportation and commerce.
Nevertheless, they urged the state government to put in more efforts to ensure the speedy completion of the township roads under construction while calling for the rehabilitation of others currently in deplorable conditions.
Supreme reports that the governor has, since the commencement of his first term of office in 2019, embarked on a massive upgrade of infrastructure, especially roads, across the state.
Makinde had kicked-started the road infrastructure with the re-award of the 65-kilometer Moniya-Iseyin road after revoking the contract initially awarded by his predecessor, Sen. Abiola Ajimobi.
Supreme also reports that many other roads have been awarded, either for construction, reconstruction, dualization, or rehabilitation.
Some of the roads included: the 110-kilometer circular road; the 76.7-kilometer Iseyin-Fagbote-Ogbomoso road; the 21-kilometer Airport-Ajia-New Ife road; and the 38-kilometer Igboora-Igangan-Iganna road.
Others were the rehabilitation of the 33.53-kilometer Ibadan-Iwo road; the 10.3-kilometer Ido-OmiAdio road; the 4.67-kilometer Odo-Ona Kekere-Arapaja road; the 45.3-kilometer Igboho-Ogbooro road; and the 14.1-kilometer Eruwa-Lanlate-Maya road.
The governor had said that the massive road projects were aimed at easing the movement of people and goods across the state and creating a safe haven for investments and the growth of agricultural activities.
In his reaction, the Director of Highways in the state Ministry of Public Works, Mr. Emmanuel Akinpade, said that the ongoing road constructions were an attestation to the Makinde-led administration’s commitment to road infrastructure across the state.
Akinpade said that the government had also been making frantic efforts to rehabilitate all the deplorable roads in all the nooks and crannies of the state.
On the allegation of a delay or slow pace of work by the contractors handling some of the roads, the director said that government officials were regularly monitoring all the ongoing projects to ensure that they were completed within schedule.
He specifically mentioned the Agodi Gate-Adegbayi road project, saying that the contract was terminated by the state government due to a lack of seriousness by the contractor initially handling it before it was re-awarded to another contractor, Kopek Construction Company.
The director assured residents of the state that all the ongoing road projects would be completed in record time, adding that none of them would be abandoned.
