Residents and Motorists plying the Kafanchan dualisation township road in the Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have lamented the snail speed of the road rehabilitation project as currently being undertaken by the state government.
A few of the residents in the area and motorists who ply the road continue to groan over the slow pace at which the project awarded under the ex-Gov Nasir El-Rufai’s urban renewal project in 2020 is being prosecuted.
The ever-busy interstate road linking the Kagoro-Plateau-Bauchi-Gombe, Kwoi-Abuja, and Madakiya-Kaduna road has become dilapidated to the extent that travellers are held up at some sections of the road for hours.
Our correspondent recalls that the reconstruction of the Kafanchan dualisation roads from NEPA Roundabout to Ungwa-Rimi bridge was among the 26.3 kilometer roads awarded to Rafali Nigeria Limited while the 18 single lane roads were awarded to Farmtrac Nigeria Limited at a total cost of N12.8bn in October 2020 with a completion target date scheduled to be within 18 months.
However, investigations revealed that “several motorists were stranded on that collapsed road that is being rehabilitated at an annoying slow speed on Saturday,” thus making them spend several hours at some heavily flooded failed spots.
It was also gathered that from the Kafanchan Roundabout to the Gate of the Emir’s Palace where some heavy duty trucks got stuck elicited another round of massive traffic build up which re-surfaced after the heavy pour.
As a result of this frustration situation, some of the motorists and other road users who spoke with Arewa PUNCH stressed that they had repeatedly raised the concern over the bad state of the yet to be completed road which a particular motorist Ango Adamu said, “is dirty, stinking, and flooded during the rainy seasons, thus raising serious public health concerns.”
According to him, “apart from myself, several motorists were stranded on that collapsed road that is being rehabilitated at an annoying slow speed on Saturday.”
Other motorists who also bemoaned the dilapidated state of the road harped on the fact that the bad portion of the road does not only adversely affect their smooth drive from the NEPA Roundabout to the Emir’s Palace but also puts both their lives and vehicles at risk, stating that they are often being targets of criminal elements whenever they are stranded along the identified spots.
A resident, Pastor Gideon Mutum, who observed that the road project was long overdue for inauguration, reminded that “similar roads like this that were flagged off for reconstruction in other parts of the state have already been completed while ours in Kafanchan is still under construction, but we thank God that the contractors are still on site pretending to be working.”
According to him, some of them have even advised both the government and contractor that instead of engaging the two stretch of the road at the same time, the contractor should rather concentrate on fixing one lane at a time so that motorists can be relieved as many businesses have also collapsed.
Gideon stated, “Southern Kaduna was hated and never lucky during the El-Rufai’s administration. While his eight years rule lasted, we suffered so much deprivation, but we are beginning to see some show of love and political maturity, concern, and understanding from the sitting Gov Uba Sani and his administration.
“El-Rufai has lived his life to hate us,” Gideon maintained, adding that during the El’ Rafai administration there was hatred and bigotry and if you take it to the political point of view he thought he was trying to score a point but wickedly.”
“Unlike El-Rufai, the administration of Uba Sani has been empathising with us over our plights since he took over in terms of road projects and security he has shown great concern,” he added.
“I knew that any government that would take over from El’-Rufai would suffer because the last eight years were just for the flamboyancy of spending public funds for personal aggrandizement and on loved ones,” Mutum alleges.
He appealed to Uba Sani to assist with the little resources at his disposal to ensure the speedy completion of the road because of its significance, stressing that he is aware that his government has been emasculated financially by the previous El-Rufai “Travellers and other commuters to Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi Jos ply this road, as such the economic value of the road can not be overemphasised,” the cleric pointed out.
A commercial vehicle driver, Salisu Ibrahim, also lamented that “the uncompleted road is in such a terrible situation that commuters from across the country are actually going through hell while travelling through this route.
“The bad spot and potholes on the road are responsible for the regular road crashes leading to the loss of lives on the dilapidated road, as motorists no longer know the safe sections to drive through.”
Like others, Ibrahim insisted that the delay in the work done so far has led to the loss of hope as the quality of work from all indications will be affected.
He remarked that, “both motorists and motorcyclists, including the residents plying the Kafanchan township road, were subjected to severe hardship as the only alternative route has been stripped off and damaged by rain.
“The delay in handling the project calls for serious questioning of whether the contractors were properly mobilised,” Ibrahim queried.
When contacted, the Chairman, Rafali Construction Company Limited, Kasim Grema, blamed the economic situation of the country as one of the factors delaying the completion of the road project.
“The major challenges we are facing is price fluctuations of materials and we have run to Kaduna Road Agency and they told us that they have written to his Excellency and the committee so that we can sit at a roundtable to discuss the way forward to complete the project and move to another site.
“When the project was initiated, a bag of cement was N4,500 but now, cement is about N8,500 to N9,000, iron rod per ton is about 300,000 to N400,000 but now we are buying it at the rate of N1.6 million, so definitely all these will affect the pace at which the work will go.
“We’ve done almost 68 per cent of the road work so far. As soon as we finish with the government, we’ll complete the work immediately,” Grema assured Arewa PUNCH.
Meanwhile, he commended Gov Sani for setting up a committee to inspect the Kafanchan township dualisation road project for speedy completion. The committee came, and we expect that they’ve given their report for onward necessary action, which they had earlier told us that His Excellency was willing to complete the project.”
Grema, thus, appealed to the governor to look into their matter with urgency so that more funds can be injected towards ensuring the speedy completion of the road project.”
He urged Kafanchan residents and commuters to be patient with the state government while thanking them for their support and hospitality.
In his reaction, the Managing Director of the Kaduna State Roads Agency, Dr. Abdullahi Baba Ahmed disclosed that Sani has approved the final payment of the road project for its speedy completion, disclosing that,
“The delay was due to the inflation rate of building materials in the market, and the contractors have requested for extension of the project completion time which has been reviewed and granted.
“As you’re aware, the slogan of this administration is ‘sustain,’ as such, Gov Sani will continue to deliver.
“Rafali Construction Company has been granted a 12-month extension, during which period the road will be completed.
“We are aware that the administration of Governor Uba Sani has inherited a lot of liabilities, and this administration can not pay off these liabilities which run into billions of naira even at the end of four years.
“However, the government is prioritising projects of the past administration to complete them.
“Some of the projects are ongoing while some will be in phases, but we’re committed to ensuring all road projects are completed to ease the transportation system of the people of Kaduna State.”
Furthermore, he highlighted the government’s efforts to reduce hunger and provide infrastructure for the people, stating, “We have said before that the ‘Renewed Hope Agenda’ is not just for the city, it is also for the rural areas.
“Rafali has only one payment left and this has been approved by the governor and I personally called the contractor to inform him of the development so far and we expect him to accelerate to complete the road project, even though we’re at a raining season now which may slow down the road project.
“Road construction is concreting, asphalting, and artwork. We know that the contractor is determined to deliver the work to the people of Kafanchan and environs,” Ahmed concluded.
