The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has issued an October deadline to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) for completing the collapsed New Artisan Bridge on the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
This directive was announced in a statement by Mr. Uche Anichukwu, the Senior Special Assistant on External Relations to Governor Peter Mbah, and made available to the press in Enugu on Monday.
According to Anichukwu, the minister gave this directive during an inspection of key Federal Government projects in the state, accompanied by the governor.
“I have been here more than 10 times since the collapse of the bridge.
“This work is being done by CCECC. I must commend them very highly for the quality of work and speed. This is the speed that Enugu governor desires and he is also very happy with this.
“I am giving them October 2024 to deliver this project,” the statement quoted Umahi to have said.
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Furthermore, the minister mentioned that due to a lack of funds, the federal government would permit the Enugu State Government to complete the remaining part of the 61 kilometers (km) road, starting from Naira Triangle, under the federal government’s Highway Development Management Initiative.
This initiative, the statement added, operates under a Public Private Partnership arrangement.
Umahi affirmed his commitment to completing the remaining sections of the Enugu-Onitsha and Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressways, as well as the dualization of the Enugu-Abakaliki Road.
He also quoted Governor Mbah as commending the federal government’s commitment to addressing the challenge of road infrastructure in the South-East.
What you should know
Recall that on September 25, 2023, a federal government bridge along the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway was reported to have collapsed.
The Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, had earlier announced that the Federal Government would commence reconstruction work on the collapsed Enugu-Port-Harcourt Expressway bridge on November 10, 2023.
However, the reconstruction of the bridge was later postponed to December, 2023.
Following the rehabilitation effort, the state government announced that a portion of the bridge would be reopened for travelers during the last yuletide period.
However, the government withdrew the plan to reopen the bridge following the experts advice that it could be exposed to disasters and further collapse of the infrastructure.
During these times, the Minister of Works, David Umahi have visited the location a couple of times, assuring residents that the bridge would be completed as soon as possible.
The contract for reconstruction was given to the Chinese company, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), who runs most of the road infrastructure in Lagos.
