Julius Berger Nigeria Plc and the Rivers State Government have signed a N195 billion contract for the construction of the Port Harcourt Ring Road in the state.
During the contract-signing ceremony at the Executive Council Chambers of Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was full of commendation for the construction company saying that the fact that Julius Berger has its successful professional imprint on every landmark project in the state qualifies the company to get the fresh contract.
He said, “We are happy today because we are doing something good. Today is a special day for me and my team. We are signing this contract because of the calibre and experience of the construction company involved. For Julius Berger, the reason why we are engaging you for this project is because of your history of achieving high standard landmark infrastructures and capital projects in Rivers State.”
Governor Fubara in appreciating Julius Berger‘s excellent and shining performance signature in Rivers State further said, “There is hardly any landmark project in this state that you have not been involved in, be they flyovers, roads, buildings, medical centres and so on. As contractors, Julius Berger has professionally discharged its obligations. Therefore, we know that this Ring Road project awarded to the company will also be completed on schedule. With Julius Berger, there is nothing like an abandoned project anywhere in Rivers State.”
On the Government’s part, the Governor said of the N195.3 billion contract sum for the Port Harcourt Ring Road, the Rivers State Government will pay 77%, totaling about N150 Billion to commence the works.
Governor Fubara also assured the contractors that the state government was committed to paying the balance once it is certified that Julius Berger has completed about 75% of the job.
He therefore admonished Julius Berger thus, “You have been doing well. Continue in that tradition and we will continue to give you our necessary support.”
According to Governor Fubara, the project will span six local government areas of the state including; Okrika, Eleme, Echie, Ikwerre and Obia-Akpor even as he advised the people of the project area to responsibly cooperate with the contractors to accomplish the project as scheduled.
In the same vein, Governor Fubara strongly cautioned traditional rulers and youths of the listed Local government areas and their communities not to hinder the work of the contractors in any way whatsoever.
Describing the project as the single biggest project to be undertaken by the state, Governor Fubara optimistically added that, “When all these places are opened up by the completion of this project, people, including industrialists, real estate investors, and other derivative businesses come. Businesses will open up, as we can see that people have even already started acquiring land all along the project corridor. That is to tell you the importance of the road.”
Finally, the governor disclosed that the project will be completed within 36 months arguing that he awarded the contract this early in the life of his young administration because it is the only way it will be completed in the next four years of his administration.
“This project will run for 36 months so that before the twilight of the current administration we will complete and commission it,” he said.
It would be recalled that Governor Fubara, during his inaugural speech as Governor of Rivers State in May, said: “We witnessed unprecedented growth in infrastructure in the last eight years, but there’s still more to do. Therefore, we will follow in our leader’s (former Governor Wike’s) footsteps to invest in capital projects, including roads, bridges, electricity supply and social housing. With interconnecting road networks, the need for affordable, conducive and safe public transportation cannot be over emphasized as Rivers State continues to grow in leaps and bounds. We will therefore, partner with the private sector to develop an integrated multimodal public transportation system to advance mass mobility and access to socio-economic opportunities across the State. We will also construct the Port Harcourt Ring Road to enhance the mobility of goods and services across the State.”
Thus, Governor Fubara had christened his administration as a Government for Continuity and Consolidation.
On his part, the Managing Director of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Lars Richter, told the government and people of Rivers State that though the company had been challenged several times with the construction of important infrastructure projects in Rivers State, it has never failed any of such engineering construction challenges, as every such contract awarded to the company had been delivered successfully and always before scheduled delivery date.
Richter described the company’s success story in Rivers State as a product of Julius Berger’s commitment to the strong partnership between the company and the Rivers State Government.
Saying that the Port Harcourt Ring Road project consists of 45km long dualised road, 6nos flyover bridges and and one creek bridge, the Julius Berger Managing Director assured the Rivers State Government and people that it was an honour that the company was again the chosen technical partner to construct and deliver the project. Richter added emphatically that the Rivers State Government is seized with a good foresight and vision to invest in infrastructure for progress.
Richter, on behalf of the Board of Directors and Management of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, thanked the Governor for the State Government’s continuing trust in the company, and for giving the company the opportunity to deliver the biggest project with the Rivers State Government, to date.
The Rivers State Governor led his Deputy and cabinet members and other high-ranking State Government officials to the ceremony.
The Julius Berger delegation to the Port Harcourt Ring Road contract-signing ceremony included the company’s Chairman, Mutiu Sunmonu; Managing Director, Lars Richter; Deputy Regional Manager, Rimon Marisho; Project Coordinator, South South and South East operations, Sam-Ngbor; Project Manager, Taner Oezerkan; Senior Contract Manager, Mrs. Omonigho Brown; and the Company’s Head of Media Relations, Moses Duku.
