The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has announced a ban on the use of laterite as a base in road construction.
The Minister gave this directive while inaugurating a committee for the supervision of the reconstruction of two roads.
These are the Benin-Warri dual carriageway and dualisation of the East-West Road, Port Harcourt-Onne Port Junction in River State.
Umahi at the inauguration of the committee directed that henceforth, contractors should use lumps, sharp sand and stone base to form the base before laying of concrete or asphalt pavement.
A statement by the Director of Information, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry, Blessing Lere-Adams, in Abuja on Friday confirmed this.
Umahi said: “We are giving very serious attention to the roads between Benin and Warri.
“The road between Eleme and Onne Port.
“We are mindful of the site conditions of these roads, the water conditions and the boreholes instead of potholes on these roads.
“No more laterite.
“Contractors are now to use lumps, sharp sand and stone base in place of laterite.”
The Minister also directed the newly inaugurated Road Taskforce Team that there must be a continuous maintenance of all the roads under construction until the end of the project.
He enjoined members of the committee to ensure that the contractors are duly informed of the development and that they should remember that the ministry is under a marching order given by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to fix Nigerian roads for the citizens to have ease of movement from one location to the other.
Umahi said: “The committee must implement the contract agreement with maintenance culture as key.
“Committee members are to monitor the contractors closely to make sure things are done right.
“Our contractors can now understand that we are not insisting that things have to change without a reason, but that the society is demanding for sustainability and integrity of the work they are doing.
“They must ensure the new method of construction is followed and maintenance follows too because it is part of the elements of the contract and any offence is punishable.”
Umahi ordered that contracts must be stable as no variation will be accepted.
He charged the contractors using asphalt pavement to ensure that their contracts are stable, sustainable and can stand the test of time and warned that the ministry will not go to the Federal Executive Council to ask for increment because of the fluctuating price of bitumen, insisting that it will not go beyond the N6 trillion set aside for the ongoing projects completion.
He added: “Those contractors using asphalt concrete and have achieved 80 percent completion can go ahead, but no cost variation because I cannot be going to the National Assembly on a weekly basis asking them for increment of contract sum.”
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The former two-term Governor of Ebonyi State said before mobilisation can be released, the contractor must have mobilised 50 percent of its equipment and personnel to site.
He noted the Ministry will respect the rights of contractors, who also have to also respect the right of the citizens.
The committee for the reconstruction of the Benin-Warri Dual Carriageway (Section 1: By Levant Construction Company Limited) has Engr. C. Oke, Deputy Director HSSI; Engr. B. W. Hassan; Representative of the Honourable Minister; Representative of Highways MG&QC; Representative of Human Resources Department, FMW; Representative of Legal Department, FMW; Representative of COREN; and Representative of NSE.
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