Calabar-Itu Road: We Are Committed To Delivering Our Mandate - SERMATECH
By Ebi COLLINS
SERMATECH, an Indigenous construction company handling a section of the Calabar-Otu Road, has stated that it is determined to complete its section of the road.
SERMATECH made this known in a release made available in Calabar dated December 3 and signed by Bogus Aiks, the
Public Relations officer.
The company's reaction follows some reports that it has failed on its mandate in executing the road project.
Giving details of its handling of the road, the construction company said it has fully completed two bridges out of the four it is handling in it's section of the road.
The company also said it handles only 28.3 km of the road projet and none of its sections of the road has failed through out the duration of the contract.
The statement read in part: "Since we commenced work in the Odukpani-Itu Road, no section within our stretch of work, has collapsed. This is because we carry out palliative works continually to ensure free flow of traffic.
"We wish to point out that our project spans through two critical swamps namely the Okpokong swamp and the Calabar River swamp.
"The Okpokong swamp is 5km. This section is fully constructed with pavements work up to binder course layer. Motorists are already enjoying the smooth road. It has survived more than two years now without issues.
"Active work is ongoing at the Calabar River swamp. The section is actively receiving adequate geotechnical treatment; subsoil drainage to lower the groundwater table, excavation and removal of unsuitable materials, hardcore filling, and sand fill to stabilize the section.
"Out of the 4 bridges in our section, we have fully constructed and completed 2, Atan and Okpokong bridges, respectively. The third bridge, Ayadeghe, is at the capping beam level; all precast beams are completed and the two abutment walls are completed.
"The four existing old bridges have also been rehabilitated to have a new look.
"We state that SERMATECH' portion of the road is about 28.3klm and not 50km as wrongly reported and the portion being mentioned is not within SERMATECH purview, but rather a different company.
"We also need to point out that SERMATECH is not the only company involved in the project", he said.
The PRO also disclosed that SERMATECH had, twice, carried out palliative interventions on the portion of the road when traffic collapsed
even though it is not under its purview all in a bid to ameliorate the suffering of commuters and other road users.
The company further disclosed thag they have an established track record of over 20 years in the industry and have been successfully delivering its mandate to all clients.
He said ahead of this year's Yelutide, the company had commenced palliative work on its portion of the road to ease access for motorists and other road users in line with federal ministry of works directives that federal roads be made motorable this season.
He added that stakeholders and other agencies should get proper information from project stakeholders such as Federal Ministry of Works or NNPC in other not to mislead the public.
