WARRI — The delay by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, management in approving the re-designed N14 billion Koko-Oghoye Road project in Delta State, three months after submission by the company handling the project, has been blamed for the grounding of the project.

Vanguard learnt that since the contruction firm, Levant Construction, moved to site about three months ago, nothing appreciable had been achieved, following the refusal of the Commission to speed up the approval of the revised design.

The Koko–Ogheye Road/Bridge project is expected to link numerous Ijaw/Itsekiri coastal communities in Warri North Local Government Area.

When completed, the 15-kilometre road with 12 long bridges will link many riverine communities with the proposed coastal road, which would make road transportation from Port Harcourt to Lagos possible in less than four hours and ease the heavy traffic on the ever busy Benin-Ore Road.

Managing Director of Levant Construction Limited, Mr. George Aghniadis, who spoke to the House of Representatives member representing Warri South Federal Constituency, Mr. Daniel Reiyeneju, during an unscheduled visit to the project site at Ajaolugbeti, Koko, weekend, said the company was awaiting the approval of NDDC for the revised design to enable work commence on the project.

He said the company was ready to commence construction work but for the non-approval of the revised design, which had made the firm unable to do anything at the moment and that this development had caused apprehension amongst the people of the area, who felt the project had been abandoned by NDDC like other projects.

Mr. Aghniadis explained that the swampy nature of the site necessitated the revised design to enable the company deliver a good quality job, adding “we don’t want to do a job and two years after, it will collapse.”

Mr. Reiyeneju urged the company to take the construction of the road project seriously, adding, “this project has been on the drawing board for over 50 years.”

He assured that funding would not hinder the construction of the road, promising to mobilise all stakeholders, including the NDDC, to ensure an early completion of the project.