Aba-Owerri Road Rehaibiltation Contract Revoked

Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State has revoked the contract for rehabilitation of Aba-Owerri Road in the commercial city of Aba.  The road is a Federal Government  road, but Abia State undertook to repair it and awarded the contract to Zerock Construction Company in which former Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu is said to have substantial interest.

 Speaking after inspecting the progress of work on the road, among others under rehabilitation in Aba Wednesday, the governor expressed displeasure over the level of work done so far by Zerock. 

He recalled that contract for the rehabilitation work, including provision of drainages, was awarded in 2007.

 “Almost three years plus now after awarding the contract, nothing substantial has been done on the road. The state government has paid N950 million for the road contract, but investigations and supervision have showed that the amount of work already done on the road is not commensurate with the amount of money paid by the state government. We have noticed deliberate delays from the contractor,” the governor said.

 Orji stressed that there was no seriousness on the side of the construction company, adding that although the workers were informed of his impending visit, they refused to mobilise to site.

 “They just put in two machines this afternoon. They were just idle. No material at site and the road is full of ponds. Imagine, the road was awarded with that of Port Harcourt Road and the Port Harcourt Road is now passable. “You can pass from the Express straight to Aba town without any hinderance or delay or hold up or ponds any where,” he said. 

The governor said the government had written letters to the contractor on several occasions, pointing out that government would write the company again to inform it of the termination of the contract because of poor performance.