Abuja-Kano Road: Julius Berger Is Constructing World Class Infrastructure – FG Says

The Federal Government has expressed its satisfaction with the quality of works and excellent engineering standards being implemented by Julius Berger on the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road project.

The Federal Government’s position was made known at a press briefing by the Minister of State for Works, Mr Aliyu Abubakar, at Dan Kazali Section III of the ongoing works in Kano.

Abubakar assured that the government will not rest on its oars until the ongoing reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project is completed as planned.

Speaking to journalists during his inspection tour of the project from Abuja to Kano, the Minister expressed the Federal Government’s full commitment to the realization of the important road project.

He noted that the Abuja-Kano Road project was one of the priorities of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, adding that this has necessitated and occasioned proper, close and consistent monitoring visits to the project in the past few months by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji-Fashola with delegations that included the Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari.

The Minister of State for Works, said that sequel to the Minister of Works and Housing visit, a technical delegation of engineering experts also visited the project for further empirical assessment of the ongoing works which was followed with the visit of the Permanent Secretary in the ministry who led a team of other engineers.

According to Abubakar; “This is how committed we are toward the completion of this project before the end of this administration. This is done because we have prioritised the project. From President Buhari, the minister, myself, our staff, engineers and the contractors (Julius Berger), we are all committed to ensuring that we deliver this work as envisioned by the present administration. That is why we do not leave any stone unturned”.

Responding to questions by journalists on the project timelines, Abubakar explained saying; “In the beginning, the scope was rehabilitation of the existing road. But having started the work, we realised that we need to reconstruct the road completely. This is now the stage that we are.

“So, if we are moving from rehabilitation to reconstruction, it takes time. It is entirely reconstructing the road. The road has stayed for so long without being given any much attention, especially if you talk about maintenance which makes a life span of a road longer. When this present government came, we set up a plan to ensure that all our roads are being maintained, and those that require reconstruction are being reconstructed.

“When the President was told that the road needed to be reconstructed, he agreed with us. As you are aware, we started from Abuja-Kaduna-Kano, which is about 378 kilometres. When you multiply this by two, since we have dual carriage, we have about 800 kilometre road. You can imagine the distance; to build a road like this takes time; therefore we are fully committed to seeing that we complete it within the shortest time possible,” Abubakar said.

Pressed further by journalists to give his assessment so far on the works after inspection, Abubakar said; “Because you have been with us since we began this inspection from Abuja through Kaduna, Zaria and now to this point (Dan Kazali) in Kano, even you, after what you have seen, can agree that the evidence on ground shows clearly that the contractor, Julius Berger, is building a world class engineering infrastructure on the Abuja-Kano Road”.

Similarly, Julius Berger team lead for the Minister’s visit, Regional Manager, Engr. Benjamin Booth told journalists that: “As contractors, we feel privileged to be entrusted with the construction of this strategic national infrastructure, and we are grateful and remain fully committed to a successful achievement of the great and very worthy vision of the Federal Government…. On behalf of our Managing Director and executive management, I assure you that, with full deference to the Government’s strong commitment, our company’s commitment to the accomplishment of the Abuja-Kano Road project is total”.