N15b road project to create over 180 jobs – FG

The ongoing N15 billion Pankshin-Gindiri Road construction project has created jobs for over 180 people in the host communities, Kehinde Koya, the Plateau Federal Controller of Works, has said.
Koya said this on Saturday at the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing inspection of the project.
He said the project was part of the present administrations to strategies to create jobs for the teeming unemployed youths in rural communities.
He said that through the project, people in the community had been exposed to more economic activities through infrastructural development.
He said the two years 54km road project sponsored by the Federal Government had created both skilled and unskilled employment for 184 people in the communities.
He said that the project had also generated business for food vendors and recharge card vendors, among others.
Koya said: “The Pankshin-Gindiri road is of great socio economic importance linking several agrarian communities along its route and facilitating smooth movement of economic crops and farm produce.”
Koya said that the project, which started in August 2017, was awarded to an indigenous company, Metropolitan Construction Company and was expected to be completed in 2019.
He said: “We have released N1billion as mobilisation fees to the contractor.’’
Charles Makhol, the General Manager, Metropolitan Construction Company, said the company had engaged three engineers for the project and more than 300 craftsmen.
According to Makhol, the standard procedures required by the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria are being adopted to ensure quality job.
Bola Aganaba, the Deputy Director of Highways, North-Central, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing said that defaulters on terms of the contract stood the risk of their jobs being terminated.
Aganaba said that the era of business as usual would no longer be tolerated as government would not allow substandard jobs.
Responding, Emmanuel Woyng, Village Head of Wusili, one of the host communities, while expressing gratitude for the project said that the laterite required for the job would be provided by members of the community.
A food vendor, Limwa Williams at the construction site told the News Agency of Nigeria that said she made a minimum of N10, 000 sales daily.