FCTA to complete 10-lane road projects December

Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) assured it would complete the 10-lane road projects including Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Murtala Muhammed Expressways by the end of December 2016.

Adamu Abu, director, FCTA Engineering Services Department, who gave the assurance, added that the Airport and Kubwa Expressways would be substantially completed by the end of December 2016 while all the auxiliary services like street lights and telecommunication ducts would be completed and handed over by the middle of 2017.

Abu, who attributed the long delay in the execution of the projects to paucity of funds, assured that the administration has now put in place adequate financial plan in the ongoing 2016 budget and proposed 2017 budget. He said the contractors have returned to sites following the resolve of the FCT administration to provide funding for the projects.

“This administration is also working to complete the on-going works at Tanks 1 and 6 to provide enough portable water to the districts in Phases I-III,” he added.

He also assured that the overhead bridge of the railway crossing before Kubwa where train from Idu moves to Kaduna would be completed by the end of the year.

On his part, Simon Agene, the engineer in charge of Earth Moving Department of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, pledged the company’s readiness to complete the project by the end of 2016 and handover at least by the first or second quarter of 2017.

Some of the sites visited were the locations of the massive on-going construction works for the completion of the Circle Road around the Three-Arms-Zone known as B6 and B12 in the Abuja master plan, which is the road from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) to the Federal Secretariat; and from the Federal Secretariat (Phase II) to the Presidential Villa coming under the bridge linking the stadium which was hitherto abandoned for several years.

The team also visited the Airport and Kubwa Expressways, the two major underpass bridges where the proposed new City Gate is expected to be constructed to serve as another tourists’ attraction.

OYIN AMINU