N/Delta governors may shun coastal road project —Expert

Tribune

30 October 2011

N/Delta governors may shun coastal road project —Expert

The responsibility of paying the minimum wage has been identified as a major challenge in securing the full support of the governors of Niger Delta states  in the execution of the proposed East-West coastal road project.

The project, which is expected to gulp a whopping $6.5billion (N1.8 trillion), is projected to be completed between five to ten years, depending on the way contracts for the project would be awarded.

A road construction expert, Engineer Mayne David-West, stated this   while speaking as a guest lecturer at the 6th annual Prof. Youpele Beredugo lecture, organised by the Port Harcourt chapter of the Nigerian Institution of Civil Engineers (NICE), in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

David-West, who is a member of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering (COREN), said the planned 704-kilometre road would pass through at least 1000  communities in the Niger Delta, even as he said that he is deeply involved with the firm that carried out the study and design of the proposed road project.

David-West observed that due to the huge cost of the project, comprising 180 bridges across river channels from Calabar to Lagos, there have been calls for alternative means of funding the project.