Delayed Potiskum – Damaturu road project and its consequences on Yobe

I was left to imagine what could have happened to me if I were in their position, or what if the loaded petrol spilled over the accident victims and rescuers, and how the trapped people spent their last ugly hours waiting to be rescued by incompetent authorities. These kept coming back to my memory. The […]

I was left to imagine what could have happened to me if I were in their position, or what if the loaded petrol spilled over the accident victims and rescuers, and how the trapped people spent their last ugly hours waiting to be rescued by incompetent authorities. These kept coming back to my memory.

The incident had left hundreds of sympathizers at the scene sleepless all night long and helpless, and not even the road safety officials who arrived on time had  save their lives. They were all shouting for help, some calling names of their co passengers who had died much earlier to help them convey message to their families.

The next morning I arrived, helps seeking voices were silent, heavy logs and stones were stationed on the high way forcing dozens of vehicles to park, while hundreds of sympathizers protesed the negligence of the authority concerned over the death of the trapped victims.

“It’s a tragedy I will never forget in my life, because, relatives of the trapped victims came to the scene, they were communicating with them until they spoke no more. There was no attempt by government to save their lives until they suffered the pains of death.

“The accident happened around 7pm but not until around 1:30pm next day that a crane came from Potiskum and dislodged the fuel tanker. But before then, we were forced to block the highway with logs and heavy stones in the morning to protest the nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government, it was the road safety officials who calmed people down, they secured a crane from Potiskum,” Malam Hassan Garin-Bukar, said.

Yobe State Sector Commandant, Federal Road Safety Commission, Mr Stephen Maituzumah, told Sunday Trust that 24 person diedand 16 injured in the two major accidents that occurred on Potiskum Damaturu road in less than two weeks. That is between 2nd and 13th of this month.

He lamented the increasing rate of accidents on the Potiskum – Damaturu road recently, saying “ it was caused by reckless overtaking and over speeding on the high way that is currently under construction.”

He called on the state government to provide them with heavy duty trucks that are too expensive for them to buy, recalling how the eight people trapped under the petrol tanker lost their lives saying it was a situation they could have helped if the needed equipments were made available to them.

While on the other hand, road users are blaming the federal government over the non completion of the road project which is supposed to have been completed by November 30, 2009, adding that it is the only way to minimize the occurrence of accidents.

Sunday Trust learnt that the dualisation and repair of the Kano-Maiduguri road was awarded by former president Olusegun Obasanjo on February 1, 2007 with an agreement to be completed on November 30, 2009, but lack of funds seemed to have affected the project.

Investigations at the site reveals that insufficient funds and budgetary allocations affected the completion of the work as Sunday Trust gathered that the contractor has not collected up to 50 percent of the total contract as “the government is owing them N1.5 billion.”

These communities are worried based on the premise that early completion of the road would go a long way in reducing the spate of accidents on the deteriorating highway.

Speaking with newsmen recently, a concerned citizen, Alhaji Baba Mohammed, said: “we hope the budget would be improved upon to achieve the completion of the work.”

Federal Ministry of Works Engineer’s Representative on the site, F. O. Naiyeju, told newsmen at the project office in Malka – a suburb of Potiskum, Yobe State that, “this project is the dualisation of Kano – Maiduguri section four which starts at Potiskum and ends in Damaturu.

The contract is thirty billion, two hundred and fifty million. Presently, a contractor is still busy constructing the new carriageway, having completed the construction of two bridges, completed asphalt up to kilometer 56, completed both earth work and sub-base up to kilometer 86.”

Naiyeju said why there are no further work from kilometer 86-96 is that “the state government requested for a by-pass; which commences from the welcome up to Damaturu, then behind the state university and links Maiduguri road. While government is considering the approval of the by-pass, we have it on our design, and are awaiting its approval by our headquarters before we can commence the project.’

He explained that there were relief measures the contractor did on the worst areas because of the complaint received from the state Ministry of Works. “The areas we repaired are intact; there are places the contractors on their own filled the places temporary to make the road motorable.”

The project is being undertaken by CGC Nigeria Limited while Pentagon Engineering renders the consulting services for the project that should cover 96 kilometers. The project that started February 1, 2007, under the agreement is supposed to have been completed in November 2009. But due to the rate of budgetary allocation and fund nothing much was achieved at the date, thus mandating an extended period to end February 2012.

The main contract is the construction of a new carriage way made up of 7.3 meter and the rehabilitation of the old carriageway which was 7.3 meter wide, each with shoulders on both sides.

But from the interviews Sunday Trust conducted, the communities around Potiskum – Damaturu complained bitterly about the project standard, while others expressed fear that the project may not last very long.

“The standard of work being executed on the Potiskum – Damaturu road is of low standard when you compare it with other parts of the road dualisation completed from Kano to Potiskum, and with my 15 years driving experience shuttling Kano – Maiduguri road as a taxi driver, it’s always boring driving on Potiskum – Damaturu road especially when you are approaching Damaturu toll gate. Despite delay in completing the project, some portions of the road are now forming dangerous ridges due to low quality tar used on the road,” said Baba Kaka

Yobe people have appealed to the Federal Government, Ministry of Finance and members of  the National Assembly to assist in providing CGC Nigeria Limited with needed funds to enable it complete the long awarded Potiskum – Damaturu road dualisation project, so as to avert the recurrent accidents and open a new road for more smooth commercial activities in the state.

But the fear is that, based on the financial constraint affecting this all-important project, would the federal government listen to the cries of Yobe people and provide sufficient funds to complete it even when the son of the soil, is the serving state minister of finance? Only time will tell.