{"id":7481,"date":"2013-08-01T08:39:50","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T08:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/disnaija.com\/nigerian-newspapers\/fec-approves-n2-99bn-for-road-project\/"},"modified":"2013-08-01T08:39:50","modified_gmt":"2013-08-01T08:39:50","slug":"fec-approves-n2-99bn-for-road-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/disnaija.com\/fec-approves-n2-99bn-for-road-project\/","title":{"rendered":"FEC approves N2.99bn for road project"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Federal Executive Council, FEC, yesterday approved N2.99 billion for the rehabilitation\/ construction of the Calabar – Ugep section of the Katsina- Ala – Ogoja – Ugep – Calabar Road.<\/p>\n

The earlier section of the road, which is already 80 per cent complete, was awarded for N4.6 billion, thus bringing the total contract sum for the entire road to N7.5 billion<\/p>\n

Briefing State House Correspondents after the council meeting, the Minister of State for Works, Mallam Bashir Yuguda, explained that the contractor, Piccolo Brunelli, which handled the first phase of the contract, was asked to continue with the extension since it was already on site and had done a very good job.<\/p>\n

Yuguda said the first phase of the project was aimed at addressing the heavily distressed sections of the road while other sections not captured in the original contract scope of works would be addressed when funds became available.<\/p>\n

He said when completed the road would be of immense benefit to the people and would also improve economic activities in the area.<\/p>\n

Also at the briefing yesterday, the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said the disagreement between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, would soon be resolved through the negotiations between the two parties.<\/p>\n

According to him, the government is worried and concerned about the strike by the union because of its consequences on the academic calendar of the universities and the students now at home instead of being in school.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cThe Federal Government has been far more worried than you think concerning the strike in tertiary institutions, because of the disruption of the school calendar… since the onset of the strike, government has been negotiating with ASUU through the Ministry of Labour and Productivity and the Ministry of Education.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs at today, we know that these negotiations are going on and it is our expectation that this strike will not get more protracted and that an understanding will be reached soon enough to enable our students return to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cGovernment is very worried and concerned every time the school calendar is disrupted, it has its cost to the nation; the idle time our children spend at home can lead to a lot of social difficulties.\u201d<\/p>\n

The FEC also considered a memo to provide a template for economic analysis of projects before they are included in the budget for appropriation.<\/p>\n

The memo brought by Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and the Chief Economic Adviser to the President, Dr. Nwanze Okeidegbe, is aimed at ensuring that before any new project comes into the budget for appropriation, there should be some economic analysis of its impacts on the lives of the people.<\/p>\n

Maku explained that the template would also include environmental assessment and would ensure that henceforth, projects must follow master plan of the Federal Government\u2019s Transformation Agenda.<\/p>\n

Although there is existing assessment, FEC intends the new template to constitute a scientific and thorough analysis of projects, and decided to continue further deliberations on the memo at subsequent meetings.<\/p>\n

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Posted in Nigerian Newspapers. <\/a>A DisNaija.Com<\/a> network.<\/p>\n

Source: National Mirror Newspaper<\/p>\n

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