A group known as Niger Delta Activists Forum (NDAF) has expressed displeasure over the deplorable state of East-West road and demanded that SETRACO construction company should return all monies paid to it to build the road.
Members of NDAF in a statement signed by their National President, Comrade Success Jack, in Port Harcourt, said that the current state of the East/West road, especially, the Port Harcourt- Benin stretch, is not only sorry, but totally unacceptable to the people of the Niger Delta region.
The National President noted that it the road was contracted to Setraco who undertook the construction and delivered a most shameful engineering job.
According to the group,”From the Elele-Ahoada- Mbiama- Sampou – Kaiama- Ughelli, Setraco delivered a dangerous and most shameful, global record breaking piece of engineering sham. This portion is very undulating, irregular and with poor gradient, that constantly destroys cars, takes lives and endangers more lives on a daily basis.
“The areas around Tank/Eneka junction, Mbiama/Opowei/Sampou has totally failed to live up to its design life, thereby constituting a death trap and an unjust punishment ground, for Niger Delta people and all Nigerians alike who commute this road.
“There is a particular spot, just by the Opowei bridge, that has been ruthlessly notorious, for causing accidents and claiming lives on weekly basis.
Portion of the East West road
Recently, a newly married top naval officer and other motorists lost their lives on that spot because of a big hole constructed there by Setraco.
The group went further to point out Nigeria did not pay Setraco to build holes and ditches on Federal highways.
“Nigeria did not spend hard earned oil revenues to contract Setraco to construct a long and potent slaughter slab, for this massive genocide of epic proportion on her citizens instead of a good highway.
“We patronized Setraco to build infrastructures only for them to destroy it. Setraco has betrayed our National confidence and trust in them. Setraco has played the Nigerian Government and her people for fools.
“This is an unprecedented economic sabotage on our nation and we cannot accept it.
The group demanded that “in the next 21 days, Setraco should as a matter of urgency deploy back to the East/West road and do the needful, since they clearly betrayed the contract and should be made to pay compensations to families, of Nigerians who lost their lives because of their bad job, and also be made to pay reparations to the Federal Government of Nigeria as holding trustee for the inconvenience(s) suffered by all Nigerians using that road.”
The Activists also demanded that Setraco and all engineers within the project monitoring and evaluation department, of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs who colluded to approve “that piece of sham Civil Engineering work be thoroughly investigated and brought to book.”
They also demanded that the Council on the Regulation of Engineering Practice in Nigeria(COREN), Nigeria Society of Engineers need to, as a matter of urgency investigate, scrutinize and ascertain the technical capability of Setraco to undertake construction projects in Nigeria.
“Finally, we want to thank President Muhammad Buhari for the statement of commitment, to finishing the East/West and also ask that the Abacha loot be made to include the rail lines linking Lagos-Calabar and Port-Harcourt- Maiduguri,” the group said.
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