…. Engineer Appeals For Timely Release of Funds To Avoid Cut Offs
From Paul Orude, Bauchi
The Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer for Bauchi State, Engineer Daniel Joroh Nanpan, has appealed for timely release of funds ahead of the raining season to avoid road cut offs.
Speaking with journalists in his office on Wednesday, Nanpan said FERMA has begun maintenance of several kilometres of federal roads across the state, urging for timely release of funds to avoid cut offs
It will be recalled that many travelers were stranded last year in Bauchi as a portion of the Bauchi-Jigawa road was cut off and washed away by heavy flooding, causing significant disruption and inconvenience.
Nanpan pleaded with FERMA management team to consider some of the proposals that had been sent on the various washout locations that occurred during last year raining season in Bauchi State.
He believed timely release of funds ahead of the raining season would enable his team to complete all the road maintenance projects and attend to washout locations before the raining season.
He said presently FERMA is executing on-going projects on the 2024 contracts, though the contractors delayed reporting.
“They are supposed to have reported last year, around November, December but thank God it is never late than done,” he explained
“Presently, we have three contractors working on our various sites.
“The main one is the one of Bauchi-Jos road, and the project is almost 100 percent completed.
“We still have a lot of challenge around Katagum area,” he revealed
Nanpan expressed optimism that the road maintenance projects in the state would be completed before the raining season..
“With what they are doing now they are within the time limit and before the end of April all these on-going projects will be completed, be sure we have covered 20 kilometre ” he said
“In Gombe road we are going to cover five kilometres. Then the one of Kari-Yana the bulk of the work is on retaining wall. So on the carriage way it is just like 7 kilometers that will be porthole free. We intend to cover that within the next one month plus left.
“There are lots of washouts that had not been tackled so we are pleading with the management to approve and hasten the process so that we can attend them before the raining season, so that we will not have cut offs like last year”
“The project on that site is starting from Kilometre 50 from Plateau State border and the contractor is going to cover from 50 to 70.
“So from kilometre 0 to 50, we have an on-gong project by the ministry of works so we cannot work on that location for now.
“The federal Ministry of Works has a contractor there but he is not on site and we are praying that he would soon come and continue so that we can have 0 to like 80 or 70 total free of portholes.
“We are still talking with the controller of works so he is still talking with the contractor to come back to site because we started the work around November –December 2024 and didn’t go far.
“I can not say much about that because I don’t know exactly their own scope of work but my own started from 50 Kilometre to Kilometre 70.
“When you go there now it is porthole free and there will be a lot of overlaid along the road there”
Nanpan revealed that FERMA is also carrying out road maintenance project along Bauchi-Gombe road, specifically around Alkaleri town.
“We did some patches and we are doing the long stretch. Most section of that road is having a contractor too by Federal Ministry of Work too.
“We have two major contractors there. We have from kilometre 0 to 30 that is the Dindima Bridge, which is on-going for works.
“The two contractors are not on site so we decided to do some of the location to make the road motorable for road users because that road is in a bad shape.
“We are trying to tackle maybe five kilometers along that road that will be porthole free so that people can use that location properly. That is why one of the people we are working with in site their work has reached 50 percent completion
“We have a project and the contractor is presently on site along Kari-Yana Jigawa state border’,” he stated
“That contract involves some patching of portholes and then there is location of wash outs.
“The road is almost cutting off there. So that is the major work we are doing there so that during training season the road will not cut off at that location.
“At that location we are trying to do retaining walls, back fill and do concrete protection to make that road suitable so that the road cannot cut off during the raining season.
“They are on site and Hopefully by today (Wednesday March 19, I am going to that site to see how far they have gone.
“These are the things we are doing for now and are in captured in the 2024 budget appropriation. The budget has been extended to June at least by the National Assembly and that is what gave room for the continuation of the project and I am hopeful that the contractors will meet the time and finish before the expiration of the budget spending”