By Simon Ebegbulem
BENIN—THE Minister of State for Works, Dr Chris Ogienwonyi, has disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan is worried over the pains of Nigerians plying the Lagos-Benin express Road and berated the contractor, Reynolds Construction Company, RCC, handling the road project for the slow pace of work.

Ogienwonyi, who spoke when he toured the road weekend, regretted that the condition of the road had degenerated badly, despite the funds released to RCC for the road project. He also expressed his disappointment with officials of the Federal Ministry of Works in Ondo State, for their nonchalant attitude towards the job and vowed to relieve them of their jobs, if they continue to exhibit such attitude.

The Minister, who expressed shock at the state of the road despite the funds released for its rehabilitation, said  “the horrible condition of the road is very worrisome to President Jonathan and that is why I have been going round to know the exact conditions of these roads, so as to fix them.

The situation is sad because the Federal Government has released money, at least for the palliative measure but nothing is still on ground.

“Apart from RCC, I am also not happy with the Controller of Works in Ondo, who is supposed to monitor and give instructions to RCC. I want to warn that the Federal Government will not hesitate to deal with any controller not doing his job.

We cannot have a job like this at hand and people will be taking it for granted. Our men in the Works Ministry are supposed to ensure that these jobs are done according to specifications and when the contractor fails, then you report to Abuja,” he said.

While inspecting  on-going work at the Federal Secretariat, Benin City, Edo State, Ogienwonyi commended the contractor, ENACO, for the speedy way it was handling the project, saying “my dream is to ensure that all federal roads in Edo State receive attention.”

Reacting, however, the RCC Project Manager, Engr. Liblic, explained that the job has been sluggish due to the  rains and assured that the job will be completed by December this year.