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An aerial view of houses submerged by flooding and residents giving information to officials of the National Emergency Management Agency in Maiduguri…on Tuesday. Photos: AFP
The North East Development Commission on Sunday conducted physical inspection to ascertain the extent of damage caused by the recent flooding on the Alaudam and other ongoing projects in Maiduguri, Borno State.
The excercise conducted by members of the Commission’s Governing Board and Management Council also included the supervision of the 22.5 Km Ngowom-Koshebe and Ngowom-Dusman-Zabarmari-Gongulong-Khaddarmari Roads, 10.5 Km (Galameri) Ngowom-Koshebe, the 3.5km Ngowom-Dusman, and the 8.5 Km, Gongulon-Zabarmari¬-Khaddamari road.
Addressing newsmen shortly after the supervision, the Managing Director of the Commission, Muhammed Goni said that despite the setbacks caused by the flooding, the commission is determined to ensure the completion of the ongoing projects to stimulate economic activities, enhance security, and facilitate freer movement of goods and residents in the popularly known “Jere-Bowl” road of the state
Goni stressed, “we have been here (Alau dam) about two or three times, as well as the Jere-Bowl road. That means the commission is under very serious contractual transactions of the road and rehabilitation of this spill way.
“You know each contract carries some terms and references, but unfortunately, on this occasion, we have some factors that affected the contracts. We are here today to asses what has happened after the flooding and see how it affects the general construction of the projects to device a way forward to continue the contracts as it is or to modify it,” he added.
On his part, the CEO of Ankabut Engineering Limited, the firm in charge of the dam’s rehabilitation work, Kamsulin Alhaji Bukar remarked that the initial contract award of N1.2 billion budgeted before the flooding was no longer sustainable as a result of the increase in the damage caused by the flood.
According to him, “The contract was awarded at N1.2 billion and it was just about when the contractors mobilised to site that the flood disaster happened. So, work has not yet started before the floods came.
“Like you heard him say, we should do a quick review to know whether we are to continue on previous contracts or if there will be modification.
“The dam has damaged more than before. Before, the concern was on the spill way, but now, just adjacent to it, we have a new channel of water. That is the major problem, and it’s just by the side. Definitely, you can not start to do something here while you have a new opening just by the side. So, this has to be on hold until we comprehensively check everything to know if to continue with this or add the entire problems and then re-scope it,” he stated.
