Business
Senate Summons NDDC Over Abandoned Project
The Senate Committee on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), has directed the management of the NDDC to report to Abuja next week to explain reasons for abandoning the Eket-Ibeno Road.
The committee Chairman, Senator James Manager, handed down the order when the committee members undertook an inspection visit to NDDC projects last Saturday in Eket, Akwa Ibom State as part of its over-sight functions.
The committee frowned at the rate NDDC projects were being abandoned by contractors after collecting mobilisation fees.
Manager called on the management of the commission to put a halt to the practice which he described as inimical to the development of the Niger Delta.
“This is another project site that we have visited and the same name, Jide, is being repeated for non-performance, and we want to express our displeasure with what we have witnessed here today.
“We are happy that we came here and we have seen things for ourselves; the management of NDDC must come to Abuja next week and explain the reasons for this,’’ Manager said.
Our correspondent reports that the Eket-Ibeno Road which leads to the Qua Iboe Terminal (QIT), the operational base of ExxonMobil, has been in deplorable condition for years now and is begging for attention.
Manager had earlier commended the progress of work handled by an indigenous contractor, on the construction of the 660 metre Ibeno Bridge, linking Ibeno with Iwochang and Okorotip Communities.
Also speaking, a member of the committee, Senator Ita Enang, thanked President Jonathan for his interest in the development of the Niger Delta.
He also thanked Governor Godswill Akpabio for making life meaningful for Akwa Ibom citizens.
He commended people in the area for cooperating with the contractor while the execution of the project lasted.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of the NDDC, Mr Christian Oboh, said that his regime inherited the project at 40 per cent completion, saying that the bridge was now 90 per cent completed, and would be inaugurated soon.
He pledged the readiness of the commission to change the face of the Niger Delta through the execution of life-touching projects.
The Paramount Ruler of Ibeno, Owong Archianga, gave kudos to Jonathan, Akpabio and NDDC for the bridge.
He noted that the bridge was one of the most significant projects in the area in view of its socio-economic importance to the people of the southern part of the Niger Delta.