Work has resumed on the 78.62-kilometre Katsina-Ala-Takum Road after a two-year delay due to numerous security challenges along the road corridor.

James Igba, project coordinator at Gerawa Global Engineering Nigeria Limited, the contractor handling the road reconstruction, said the company took over the site on November 27, 2023.

Mr Igban, who received officials of the Federal Ministry of Works (FMW) on an assessment tour of road infrastructure, told the team, led by its spokesperson, Mohammed Abdullahi, that the project was to be completed in December 2025.

“We have applied for an 18-month extension, and we are waiting for approval from the ministry.

“We are back on site, preparing our earthwork ready for the stone base. We will soon start laying the stone base and binder works.

“We are also going to continue with hydraulic works and the extension of culverts, as well as drainage.

“We want to assure the ministry and all the stakeholders that we are fully back on-site and that the challenges we had have been surmounted,” he stated.

Mukaila Danladi, the Benue controller of works at the Federal Ministry of Works, said the contractor had reached a binder level of 2.5 kilometres.

“From 2.5 kilometres to 12 kilometres, they have achieved sub-base level and are ready to receive the base course.

“The Benue government’s ban on blasting of rocks also affected the pace of the contract apart from the security challenges,” he stated.

Mr Abdullahi, the FMW team lead, said the tour was to gauge the perception of the federal government’s interventions in road infrastructure.

He said the enhancement of road infrastructure and transportation is one of eight pillars of the administration’s Renewed Hope Agenda.

The director added that the tour was also to inaugurate completed emergency projects.

“This administration inherited a total of 3,064 roads at inception on May 29, 2023, some of which were abandoned because of a paucity of funds.

“The debt hangover of the project was up to N30 trillion, and the government completed the projects and rehabilitated the failed portions of roads,” he said.

Ukeyima Manger, immediate past chairman of the Nigerian Society of Engineers, Benue chapter, lauded the federal government for awarding the contract to ease the suffering of road users.

(NAN)