The Kaduna State Government has awarded 78 road projects totaling 775Km in the last 21 months, with 21 of the roads already completed and in use.
The Commissioner of Public Works and Infrastructure, Ibrahim Hamza, disclosed this at the Quarterly Ministerial Press Briefing at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna on Thursday.
“Since the coming of this administration in the last 22 months, the government of Senator Uba Sani has done remarkably well.
“We have tried, notwithstanding the bedeviling challenges and obstacles that we encountered in the ministry itself and all the parastatals,” Hamza said.
The commissioner noted that the administration had to sit down, think out-of-the-box, and come up with solutions to remedy the wrongs created in the past and make progress.
He noted that despite the challenges, the Governor Uba Sani administration awarded 78 road projects totaling 775Km in the last 21 months.
He said, “We have largely overcome almost all the challenges that we met. These challenges are not limited to liabilities inherited, vandalisation, lack of proper documentation. Contracts were awarded without documentation. Some were over-inflated and there were no records.
“Out of these projects, 21 roads have already been completed and have been put into use, thereby creating more economic activities across the 23 local governments.”
The commissioner cited the example of the Kaduna Bridge from Kabala Costain to Aliyu Makama Road, which was recently completed and commissioned.
“Last week, we also launched the completion of the Kaduna Bridge from Kabala Costain to Aliyu Makama Road, which will decongest traffic on the major road artery of Ahmadu Bello Way-Junction Road,” he said.
He lamented that there were a lot of challenges beneath the Urban Renewal Programme of the previous administration because of the liabilities that his Ministry inherited.
“Some contractors received payments that are enough to finish the project but they have not finished the project and they were bringing claims that are outrageous. Some of the claims can finance the construction of new roads projects, after the contractors have been paid previously for the amount of work done,” he added.
The commissioner noted that the administration had to sit down and see how to go through these challenges and make sure that they settle in peace so that they can make progress.
Hamza revealed that the administration met capacity utilisation of the water supply scheme at less than 5% but has now risen to 30% and by the end of the year, it will reach 100%.
“A lot has been done or invested in the water sector by the previous administration but unfortunately, the result is not commensurate with what has been invested. Some money was also borrowed from Islamic Development Bank to the tune of about $81 million.
” Another loan was collected again to the tune of $101 million for distribution from African Development Bank. There was also another reform by the Federal Government in the tune of $17.2 billion,” he said.
He recalled thatSani declared a state of emergency in the water sector because of the challenges bedeviling it and “that effort has tremendously improved water supply in Kaduna State.”
Hamza also disclosed that the administration paid all the salary arrears of the Kaduna Water Corporation staff, amounting to N800 million and settled outstanding electricity bill of N1.3 billion.
“By the end of last year, between when the state of emergency was declared in the water sector, sometimes in September, to December last year, 2024, the state government injected over $25 billion.
“This year, we are reaching and spending over 100 billion naira injecting in the water sector here. And by December, we are hopeful, which is the fourth quarter, we are going to have 100% water supply, which is within the capacity, our efficiency of all our plants,” the commissioner added.
