By Festus Ahon

ASABA—Delta State Government has given one week ultimatum to Levant Construction Company handling the Sapele Road dualization project to improve on its pace and quality of work or risk losing the contract.

Okowa

Also commuters plying the Warri – Benin express section of the East/West Road can now heave a sigh of relief as the state government has started repairing all failed sections of the road within Delta state.

State Commissioner for Works, Chief James Augoyi, who issued the ultimatum while inspecting one of the failed portions of the road few metres away from the twin city of Warri and Effurun, where about 50 percent repairs had been done by Obakpor Engineering Limited, said that the state government could no longer sit and watch people continue to lose their lives due to bad spots on the road.

He commended Obakpor Engineering Limited for the pace and quality of work being done on the failed portions of the East-West Road.

He said: “This section of the road has been a nightmare to the state. We had written the Federal Ministry of Works and Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, but have waited this long and the rains are approaching, we have no choice but to go about the repairs. Before now, you know the traffic problem on the road, you can stay here for three to four hours and it was a problem to us and to the people of Delta State.

“It has been a pain and the governor had to visit and saw things himself and promised Deltans that he was going to fix the road and that is what we have started. You understand that this is a major road in and out of the state, it is the East/West road linking Port Harcourt and other states in the East and we cannot wait for the Federal Government.”

The commissioner, who also inspected the ongoing Sapele road dualization, also reinstated the state’s government commitment to positively affect the lives of Deltans through road rehabilitation and construction in all part of the state.

He however, expressed dissatisfaction with the quality and level of work that has been executed by Levant Construction Company that is handling the project.