By Hutson Efosa
The Honourable Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engineer Abubakar Aliyu, FNSE, said investment in infrastructure development like roads and housing will bring prosperity to Nigerians.
According to the Minister, “when we sum up all the ongoing works on our roads started by previous administrations, it only shows that President Muhammadu Buhari is keen in bridging the infrastructure gap of the nation and that his administration is more determined to completing abandoned projects instead of starting new ones.
“This Government is investing massively in infrastructure development of our roads and housing sector either by direct budgetary funding or through other means, be it SUKUK, Tax Credit Initiative or the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, ” he said.
He commended the contractor handling the project for the quality of job and urged them to increase the pace of work so that the project could be delivered on time for the benefit of communities along the corridor of the project and other road users.
The Minister reiterated President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to lifting Nigerians from poverty through investment in infrastructure like roads.
He said: ” As you can see, a lot of activities are going on along the corridor of the road project. Because of the construction work people are now building houses along the road corridor and cost of land and rent have gone up. That is to tell you that prosperity is coming your way. ”
He added: ” That is what the present administration of President Muhammad Buhari is interested in doing, to lift people out of poverty to the ladder of prosperity.”
The Minister inspected the ongoing work on the Kano Western Bypass road.
The contract was awarded on the 25th of April, 2007 with an initial contract period of 36 months which was supposed to be completed by 2010.
The 26.6 km dual carriageway is an extension of Kano -Maiduguri dual carriageway and forms part of the Trans Saharan route when completed.
Also inspected was the dualization of Kano -Katsina Road Phase I which stretched from Kano town at Dawanau roundabout to Katsina State boarder.
The 74.10km dual carriage way was awarded in 2013 with an initial completion date of June, 2016 but later extended to June 2021.
According to the Federal Controller of Works, Kano State, Engineer Yahaya Ali,
the contractor is on site and has made considerable progress in the project.
Notably, 72.88km and 68.50 km pavement structure of the new road had been completed up to binder and wearing courses respectively.
He attributed the impressive progress made to SUKUK intervention and the competence of the contractor. He therefore appealed that the SUKUK funding be sustained.
