Engr. Adeyemo Ajani, the Controller, Federal Ministry of Works in charge of Anambra State, has called on government and other concerned stakeholders to intervene in the agitation in Onitsha over the second Niger bridge between worried communities and the government contractors.

Ajani who spoke to newsmen at his office in Awka, on Wednesday said if there is no quick intervention, it might affect the completion of the second Niger bridge on time.

He disclosed that work has stopped at the site because of some demands being made by the communities and workers.

According to him, the project does not have any issues in terms of funding but the communities are trying to delay the project completion through their agitations and demands.

“Among all the presidential Initiative funding project,  second Niger  Bridge is the only one that has no problem in terms of funding” he stated.

Recall that some communities from Anambra and Delta states had forcefully stopped work on the site, alleging that the project manager has not given them their dues.

According to Ajani, the demands of the communities are about N500millions  and wondered how much money could be raised from, for those communities.

He said the project may be delayed now, due to the crisis being created by the communities and workers.

According to him, the Memorandum of Understanding between the communities and the contractors are not yet signed due to demands of N500 millions of community projects.

“The Memorandum of Understanding MoU between the contractors and the communities has not been signed. One of the reasons for not signing it was that the communities are demanding a 50Million naira project in each community, which total up to N500 millions.  We are asking the government to step in and resolve the problem” he said.

According to him, work at the second Niger bridge has stopped and we are asking for government and stakeholders intervention so that work can continue and the bridge completed as scheduled.

He also urged workers on the site to be patient with the contractors on their demands for an increase in transportation allowance and promotions of junior workers.

Ajani said their demands are not supposed to create a problem since they are looking into them.

It could be recalled that a few days ago, the workers and host communities of the ongoing Second Niger Bridge project in Anambra and Delta states have shut down the Julius Berger yard office at the bridgehead, Onitsha, the Anambra state capital.

The protesters during the protest said they were marching against noncompliance to agreements with the host communities in regards compensation, employment of ad hoc staff, skilled and unskilled staff as well as supplies.

The leader of the protesters and the host communities Liaison Officer (CLO), Mr Peter Okafor, also demanded the sack of the Project Director of construction firm Julius Berger, Mr Friedrich Josef Wiser, over his alleged highhandedness and neglecting the plight of the host communities.

Source: https://tribuneonlineng.com/communities-agitation-may-affect-completion-of-second-niger-bridge-―-fg/

The FG need to step in and sort things out as soon as possible.

There's always an excuse for delays. M What are the laws regarding these mous and why they allowed to halt progress on work already under contract? Compensation is supposed to be worked out before work begins for this reason. These workers need to get back to work.

Meanwhile, you pay compensation to other region when you acquire their land and property during construction.

Why do you want to use this as an excuse to stop the construction of 2nd Niger Bridge? What is good for the goose is also good forr the gander

One Nigeria is a scam

My question is why did the federal government award asaba link road to Julius Berger while that of Onitsha link road was given to Rcc. Is it abomination for Julius Berger to handle a contract in core Igbo land?

zeromeridian:
Meanwhile, you pay compensation to other region when you acquire their land and property during construction.

Why do you want to use this as an excuse to stop the construction of 2nd Niger Bridge? What is good for the goose is also good forr the gander

One Nigeria is a scam

Don't worry, we will stop the construction so that you can have your land. Sorry for disturbing you and your land. After we stop the construction, you can start shouting "Buhari hates Igbos ", it won't stop other regions from getting needed infrastructure.