President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday flagged off the construction of N117 billion second Niger Bridge with a promise to complete and put to use within 48 months.
He stated that project would be non-stop as N40 billion has been made available to execute the project.
According to him, “Such a major infrastructure requires proper arrangement and financing to start it and ensure that the job does not stop somewhere. So, we took pains to pass through all these to make sure that as we are laying this foundation stone, work will not stop on the project’’.
“To facilitate timely release, the FG has made a commitment of about 25 percent of the total funds. We have enough money to last for over a year and I believe that with that, work will commence immediately”.
Jonathan noted that the second Niger Bridge will deepen national integration and enhance economic and social interaction among all parts of the country when completed.
He solicited the continued support of Nigerians to ensure that the job was completed as scheduled.
The president charged the governments of Anambra and Delta states to provide the enabling environment for the contracting firm, Julius Berger Nigeria Limited.
Managing Director of Julius Berger, Mr Wolfgang Gesh, promised to work day and night and that the contracting firm will not compromise standard and assured that the project would be delivered as expected.
Earlier in his speech, Minister of Works, Mike Onolemenen said the project was being executed under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement for a concession period of 25 years, through the Design, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) model.
Onolemenen assured that government would hold the concessionaire accountable on both technical and financial issues during the construction, operation and maintenance stages of the project.
According to the Minister, ‘’The second Niger Bridge, which will assist the existing aged steel truss bridge, built in 1965 is 1,590 metres long and forms part of the 11.90 km length project, which construction cost is put at N117,860,700,741.82 vat inclusive.’’
He said government with support of the World Bank would also commence the procurement and construction of two by-passes to complement and add value to the second Niger Bridge.
“The first by-pass will be a connecting dual-carriageway from Arterial Route A232, Benin-Asaba Expressway, by-passing Asaba and its Airport to link the second Niger Bridge. The second by-pass will also be a connecting dual-carriageway from Arterial Route A232, Onitsha-Enugu Expressway to Arterial Route A6, Onitsha-Owerri Expressway (by the new full Clover Interchange, which is a major part of the second Niger Bridge project), effectively by-passing Onitsha to link the new bridge.”
