East-West Road Project Delights Minister

The  Supervising
Minister  of  Niger Delta Affairs, Mr Darius Ishaku, has expressed delight with the progress of work on the construction of the East-West road.
The minister said this when he inspected the project in the company of the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Mr Mohammed Barsha and senior officials of the ministry, yesterday.
The multi-billion naira more than 100 Km road, on completion, would link the states in the Niger Delta.
The team visited Section 1 which runs through Warri-Kaiama in Delta and Section II which covers Kaiama – Port Harcourt in Bayelsa and Rivers.
It also visited Section IV which covers Eket-Oron (51Km) in Akwa Ibom, among others.
The minister said the Federal Government was determined to improve on social interaction among the people of Niger Delta.
Ishaku said the Federal Government was conscious of the role of road infrastructure in the economic and social wellbeing of the citizenry.
He said ministry of Niger Delta would continue to partner with other agencies to ensure that the infrastructure needed of the Niger Delta were met.
He called for improved funding for the ministry if it would meet the infrastructure and other desires of the Niger Delta.
Our correspondent reports that while defending the 2014 budget of the ministry at the National Assembly, Ishaku said the road would not be completed in 2014 due to shortage of funds.
The ministry has a budgetary allocation of N49 billion in the 2014 fiscal year.
“We cannot deliver East-West road by December this year due to funding gap.
“Because of shortfall, we will not be able to commission this project by December unless there is additional funding,” he told the Senate Committee on Niger Delta.