Mkpoikana Udoma
02 October 2017, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt- The Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, has assured the people of Bayelsa State that it will complete the 25.7-kilometre Ogbia-Nembe Road in the state by November this year.
The Managing Director of NDDC, Mr. Nsima Ekere, gave the assurance when a delegation of Nembe leaders paid him a courtesy visit at the Commission’s headquarters in Port Harcourt.
Ekere said that the project which was executed by the NDDC and Shell Petroleum Development Company, SPDC, was almost completed.
He said that with the Ogbia-Nembe Road experience, the Commission had entered into several other partnerships, including the one with the Ondo State Government for the construction of the 50-kilometre Akodo-Araromi/Ibeju-Lekki Road, connecting Ondo and Lagos states.
The NDDC bos also said that the Commission had started discussions with SETRACO, the contractor for the Ogbia-Nembe Road, to resume work at the site as soon as possible.
“Our projection is that by November, the project will be fully completed and commissioned; the Ogbia-Nembe Road is very important to the Board and Management of the NDDC, It is key because it is the hallmark of our partnership with Shell. We must ensure that this project is completed to serve as a flagship for other collaborations.
“The contractors had complained that their major concern was the weather; they don’t want to asphalt during the rainy season. So, they are waiting for the rains to subside before remobilising to site to complete the remaining section,” he said.
On the extension of the road from Nembe to Brass, Ekere said that the Federal Government had shown a very serious interest in it and the NDDC was being hampered by the availability of funds.
The NDDC Chief Executive Officer decried that commission was saddled with huge liabilities and thus, efforts were being made to reduce the number of on-going projects.
“We have reduced the number of new projects in our budgets to enable us compete on-going ones. We have tried to prioritise them to enable us deliver on the more critical ones,” he said.
Earlier, the Vice Chairman of the Nembe Se Congress, Dr. Ebinyo Young-Dede, told the NDDC boss that they were eagerly waiting for the completion of the Ogbia-Nembe Road and the commencement of work on the Nembe-Brass section.
