By Tony Edike

ENUGU — THE Federal Government has given contractors handling rehabilitation of federal roads in the South-East zone three months to improve on their performances or have their contracts terminated.

Federal Government said plans had been concluded to send a Special Audit Team to the South-East zone to verify the capacity of the contractors handling the jobs to complete them in record time.

Minister of Works, Senator Sanusi Daggash, who made this known, weekend, after inspecting federal roads under rehabilitation in Enugu State, expressed disappointment over the slow pace of work being done on the 9th Mile-Otukpo-Lafia  Highway and the 9th Mile-Port Harcourt Expressway awarded to Bulletin and CCC construction firms, respectively.

He said the trip has afforded him and top officials of the ministry the opportunity to experience the difficulties many Nigerians encounter plying federal highways which had been poorly maintained over the years.

He said: “The contractor handling the Obollor-Afor-Otukpo road has not measured up in terms of his capacity to deliver on time.

“FERMA is there taking the responsibility of funding. As for funding, FERMA has no problem. But FERMA has to pay a contractor when the work is progressing but this work had been very slow.”