Work stops on Asaba drainage project

Construction work has stopped on the multi-million Naira drainage project, in Asaba, the capital of Nigeria’s Delta state.

The contract was awarded by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s government in 2010.

Work on the project, which commenced in the same year it was awarded, stopped in November, 2012.

NAN gathered from investigation that the stoppage of work by the contractor was due to factors connected to unavailability of funds.

A source close to the contractor, Modis Ltd, disclosed that the company could not continue with the job, because it had run out of money.

“The company has unpaid bills for part of the job already completed and it borrowed so much money to do the job.

“As it is now, the job cannot continue unless government pays some of the bills, because the company cannot borrow more to do the project,” the source who asked for anonymity said.

Mr Frederick Ogbonna, an engineer and one of the managers of the company, admitted that approved certificates for completed jobs on the project had not been paid by the government.

Ogbonna, however, told NAN that the stoppage of work on the project was due to a workers’ strike over non-payment of their salaries.

“The stoppage of work is because our workers have refused to work because they are being owed by the company.

“And, it is difficult for the company to meet some of its obligations now, including the workers’ salaries, because government has really not paid for some completed jobs,’’ he said.

Ogbonna said however that the project was almost 80 per cent completed and would be ready before the rainy season set in.

Mr Frank Omare, the state’s Commissioner for Environment, whose ministry is in charge of the project, declined comments, saying “I don’t want to talk about that matter’’.

Residents of Asaba have for some time now decried the slow pace of work on the drainage project. According to some of them who spoke in separate interviews with NAN, the time already spent on the project was enough to complete three more projects of its size