The Honourable Minister of Works & Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has celebrated with Nigerians and commended Julius Berger Nigeria Plc for delivering at the 2nd River Bridge.
The Minister spoke during his visit to the newly completed bridge to temporarily open it for the use of commuters. The temporary opening of the bridge, said the minister, is to ease the usual traffic gridlock during the yuletide season.
The Minister likened the previous hardship experienced on the old Niger bridge by which commuters spend more than two days just to cross the old bridge for holidays as ‘a dimension of poverty and economic hamstring to citizens which the President Buhari administration decided to tackle decisively and has, indeed, successfully addressed‘.
Chairman of the South-east Governors‘ Forum, His Excellency, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State described the accomplishment and opening of the new River Niger Bridge by the President Buhari administration using the nation’s most reliable construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, as “a great miracle for the people of the South-east and Nigeria at large”, adding that “…it is a great miracle for our people who will no longer sleep for days at that point (refering tot he previously endemic transiting gridlock between the Asaba and Onitsha ends of the old Niger Bridge during the yuletide holiday heavy traffic to the South east).”
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State also commended the Federal Government and Julius Berger for the completion and opening of the Bridge.
The Delta State Governor spoke through his Commissioner for Works who was also present at the New River Niger Bridge during the Minister’s visit to open it for the temporary use of commuters during the holidays.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Engineer’s representative for the 2nd River Niger Bridge Project, Engr. Oluwaseyi Martins, explained that the first phase of the bridge and road opening which is for light vehicles moving one way only from Asaba to the South-east, would last from 15 December 20221st January, 2023. The second phase would be for one way traffic returning from the South-east (Onitsha end) towards Asaba, and it will last from 3rd January 2023 to 15 January, 2023. “Heavy duty vehicles still remain restricted from the new bridge due to the available small turning radius for now“, he added.
Julius Berger Nigeria Plc was represented at the ceremony which commenced at the Asaba end of the new bridge by the project director, Dr. Friedrich Wieser and the company’s Coordinator for Executive projects, Mr. Kai-Uwe Koehler, amongst others.
The Honourable Minister for works also visited the fast-progressing Bodo-Bonny Road project in Rivers State.
During his visit, Fashola satated that Work on the project is slated for completion in December 2023. The Minister hailed the continued progress on the work saying that, it could only have been done by Nigeria’s foremost engineering construction company, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
