Julius Berger Urged to Finish 82km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Road
POLITICS DIGEST- Minister of Works, Sen. Nweze David Umahi, has for the umpteenth time called on Julius Berger Plc. to show corporate patriotism by accepting the Federal Government’s approved reviewed total contract sum of ₦740, 797,204,713.25 for the completion of the rehabilitation of the 82 km section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, contract No.6350.
This call was made during the courtesy visit of the new Managing Director of Julius Berger Plc, Dr. Pier Lubasch, who was accompanied by the outgoing Managing Director, Dr. Lars Richter at his office, Federal Ministry of Works Headquarters, Mabushi Abuja yesterday.
Umahi lamented that the delay in mobilizing to the site despite the approved funds by the Federal Executive Council is causing untold hardship to the road users and that the Federal Government is at the receiving end of the situation.
In the Honourable Minister’s Words “So if Berger is not doing it, then let’s have other people to do the job and within the time that we can control price. We’ve had more than 20 letters from Berger on this. It is a ping pong game from Julius Berger. The prices rose from ₦710 billion to ₦740 billion because of these delays. And if we continue the delays, it is the problem of the Ministry of Works.”
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The Minster expressed dismay that Julius Berger Plc, which has had years of patronage by Federal Government and sub-national governments, is not realistic in the contract pricing, especially at this time of Nigeria’s economic challenges.
He therefore urged the contractor to within 7 days accept or reject the approved reviewed contract sum for the completion of the rehabilitation of section II of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road or face contract determination as Federal Government can not be held to ransom by the desire for unrealistic pricing and augmentation by contractors.
He said, “This offer is not subject to any condition. It’s not subject to any condition that is being dished out here. It’s taken as given after more than 14 months. I’m sorry, I have to sound this way because there must be an end to negotiation. If anybody says there shouldn’t be an end to negotiation, then that person is not a business person. If you have negotiated for 14 months without any result, you should terminate the negotiation.”
While welcoming the new Managing Director of Julius Berger Plc, the Minister reiterated the need for construction companies working with the Federal Ministry of Works to prepare to make sacrifices in terms of value for money and realistic contract pricing, so as to encourage the much needed road infrastructure revolution for the nation’s economic transformation which is a cardinal agenda of the Renewed Hope administration of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
