The Minister of Works, Dr. David Umahi, yesterday, assured Nigerians that the reconstruction of the 15km section of the East-West Road (Section IIIA) from Port Harcourt (Eleme Junction) to Onne Junction in Rivers State would be completed and commissioned in December.

The Minister gave the assurance when he inspected the N156 billion project currently handled by Reynolds Construction Company (Nigeria) Limited.

The project which is within the economic corridor of Nigeria, leading to the petrochemical, refinery, Onne wharf and a lot of other companies, both international and local has suffered years of dilapidation.

The stretch of the road has also witnessed a series of protests from the indigenes and other users, after many persons died in an accident resulting from the bad state of the road.

The former President Muhammad Buhari had commissioned the projects before he exited office and said the execution would be done by the current administration led by President Bola Tinubu.

During his inspection of the road project yesterday, Umahi expressed satisfaction with the quality of work being done by the contractor on the first carriage way.

He stated that he has directed the contractor to conclude with carriageway ahead of its commissioning at the end of this month.

Expressing the President’s commitment to ensuring all ongoing construction roads in the State and its environs are completed within a stipulated period, the Minister said the project’s quality durability would last over 50-100 years without maintenance.

He added: “I decided to pay a visit here, and this is about my ninth visit on this project because of how important this project is to Mr. President.

“This project is within a very serious economic corridor of Nigeria. We have a lot of facilities here, including Indorama, the refinery, and a lot of other companies. So, this is very important, and I am very happy with the quality of work being done.

“We have directed the contractor to wrap up this carriageway because it’s selected for commissioning in the next ten days, and they have to do it day and night, and I am very confident that they will achieve it”.

Commending Tinubu for his courage in the development of the country, especially constructing roads across States in the country, he said, “Before, Nigeria was building roads but today, the President is constructing roads.”

Speaking further on the road, Umahi explained: “I know that there are some sections that we earmarked for flyovers and bridges. I have directed them to use asphalt to complete that until when dry season comes and we can re-engage on the flyover. And that has been isolated as a separate item of the work.

“By June 1, 2025, they will go back to Onne to continue with the Port Harcourt-bound doing exactly what they have done on the Eket bound.

“The total value of the project is N156 billion and it is 30 kilometers by four lanes. It has solar lights, we are going to install CCTV, I am going to put tolling points and relief parks so that people don’t park on the road again. It’s going to be a beauty on earth when we finish.

“By December, the entire stretch of the road will be completed. So, Mr. President can elect to commission this carriage way now, as we are doing in all our projects within the six geopolitical zones.”

“The ones we have completed substantially, we commission or he’s left to say let the second carriage way be totally completed and in December, we can have an elaborate ceremony”, Umahi added.

Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in charge of Rivers State, Enwereama Tarilade, revealed that what was left for the near-completed carriageway was 60 metres, assuring that it would be completed in 10 days from inspection day.

She stressed: “We made a promise some time ago that this section of the road, this carriageway, would be completed and open up to the public, and that has been fulfilled.

“What is left here is about 60 metres and in two days’ time, this place will be opened to the public. This is 15.25mtrs and is wide enough for ongoing and outgoing traffic to use while we move over to the other carriageway.”