The Rivers State executive council has approved N80.886 billion for the construction of 33.5-kilometre long Elele-Omoku road project, which would traverse three local government areas of the state.
The local government areas include: Ikwerre, Emohua and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, according to a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Tuesday by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Nelson Chukwudi and made available to newsmen.
The statement said at the executive council meeting, presided over by Governor Siminalayi Fubara on Tuesday, and attended by his deputy, Prof Ngozi Odu, the council approved a 24-month completion period for the project.
Briefing newsmen after the meeting, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, Engr. Atemea Briggs, said the project will be funded from the savings made from the internally generated revenue of the state government.
Explaining the specifications of the project, Engr Briggs said, “The project starts from Elele to Umudioga, Egbeda and Ubumini to Omoku. The total length of the project is 33.5 kilometers. There is an existing road there which is just 7.3 meters width, but the government wants to dualise this road.
“The proposed road width now is 7.8 meters, to be asphalted fully with a road shoulder of 2.5 meters width. I will like to mention that along this road, we have several kilometers of low land, wherein to build a road shall require replacement, filling of the ground by more than 3 meters high.”
Briggs further said, “This, the contractor can only achieve through hydraulic sand filling, using laterite. And you know how costly these are.
“The road is also having a bridge of 99 meters long to be built side-by-side the existing one between Egbeda and Omoku. The cost of the project is N80,886,404,836.45k only. It is awarded to Craneburg Construction Company. The delivery period is 24 months.”
Similarly, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, said council was briefed on the success of the accreditation exercise conducted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria at the state College of Nursing Sciences.
Dr Oreh explained that the state School of Nursing, which was recently upgraded to College of Nursing Sciences, now has its admission capacity increased by 142 per cent, and a 400-capacity classroom block being constructed for both midwifery and nursing students.
She said with upgrading of existing facilities in the healthcare sector in the state, and enhancement of their functionalities, gaps are being addressed in access to requisite services to provide a robust primary healthcare system.
She noted that Rivers State also emerged as South-South zonal winner of the Primary Healthcare Leadership Challenge, convened by UNICEF, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Aliko Dangote Foundation and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum.
The Health Commissioner further said there is also a new partnership between the state government and UNICEF, which is donating an oxygen manufacturing plant and equipment for new born neonatal unit at the Eleme General Hospital, which will be handed over soon.
She averred that “another update to note is His Excellency’s approval of the implementation of Rivers State Contributory Health Protection Programme, which is the state Health Insurance Scheme.”
She added, “The Federal Government has been notified, the National Health Insurance Authority and the Office of the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare have all been notified, so that all processes needed for the enrolment of citizens and residents of Rivers State in the health insurance scheme, especially our vulnerable population can immediately commence.”
Also addressing newsmen, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, reiterated that the 33.5-kilometre Elele-Omoku road project will be funded with savings from the internally generated revenue, a payment method that will also be adopted for the phase two of the Trans-Kalabari road project.
Johnson added, “Council also will be setting up a five-man committee, made up of commissioners of Agriculture, Urban Development, Permanent Secretary of Lands and state Surveyor-General to deal with the issues of land grabbing.
“All that would be put together within the week, and council will also provide all necessary requirements for that committee to conclude its job within record time.
“It is important that I mention that the money for the construction of the 33.5-kilometre road is from our savings. This is important, because most people will be asking what we are doing with our IGR.
“These are money we will use, accruing from our savings. This approach is what this government will be adopting to fund the phase two of Trans-Kalabari road project, which will soon commence.”
In her clarification, acting Director-General of the state Bureau of Public Procurement, Ine Briggs, said all the road projects being undertaken by the government had scaled through due diligence and quality assurance and had been certified for delivery to Rivers people.
