The abandoned road project has cut off the people of Karim, lamido and Lau from the rest parts of the state as the road is their major access route.
The Jalingo-Kona-Lau-Karim-Lamido Road Phase II in Taraba State has remained abandoned despite N204million released to the contractor in June 2021, SaharaReporters has gathered.
SaharaReporters gathered that the contract for the construction of the 29 kilometres Jalingo-kona-lau-karim-lamido road phase II (CH6+500-CH35+625) C/NO 6672 in Taraba State was awarded to Mould Nig Limited after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the project in 2020.
The Minister of State for Works and Housing, Alhaji Abubakar Aliyu, while briefing State House correspondents in February 2020 confirmed the council’s approval for the award of contract for construction of the road.
“The contract at the cost of N6.92 billion inclusive of VAT; this is the phase 2 of the project; the phase 1 was completed earlier,” the minister said.
However, findings by TrackaNG revealed that the contractor abandoned the project after poorly constructing less than 13 kilometers from Kona to Garin Mallam with asphalt despite the N204 million reportedly released to the contractor in June 2021.
TrackaNG noted that although some equipment are still at the contractor's project camp, there is no sign that work is still ongoing at the project site.
The abandoned road project has cut off the people of Karim, lamido and Lau from the rest parts of the state as the road is their major access route to other parts of the state.
It was gathered that the road becomes a death trap particularly during the rainy season as residents of the affected communities lack access road and bridge to connect other communities in the state.
This has also therefore drastically reduced their source of income and unleashed other difficulties on them.