FG awards contract for Bauchi Southern by-pass

By Miriam Humbe

The Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen has assured the government and people of Bauchi state that the federal government is ready to ensure that Bauchi gets its fair share of federal roads infrastructure, with the construction of road networks which includes Bauchi Southern by-pass and Gombe-Bauchi roads.

Onolememen gave this assurance on Tuesday, when he hosted the Bauchi state Governor, Malam Isa Yuguda and his team in his office in Abuja.

“We are formalising the commencement of the design work on the by-pass you referred to which we call Bauchi Southern bypass. I want to assure you that work will commence in this new month of October. The federal government in line with the transformation agenda is determined to ensure that Bauchi state gets its fair share of federal roads “, Onolememen said.

While speaking earlier, Governor Isa Yuguda, who said the city of Bauchi has witnessed a recent population explosion of about two million people due to the insecurity in neighboring states expressed the worries of his people over the road networks in the state, with particular emphasis on the Bauchi-Gombe road and the Southern Bauchi bypass.

“The Bauchi-Gombe road was constructed in 1973. The contractor rehabilitating that road is doing a very poor job, so we need the ministry’s intervention”, Yuguda said.

Onolememen promptly responded: “You have made a complaint and within the next seven days, I will despatch a team to assess the Bauchi-Gombe road so that I can be properly informed before taking a position on the status of the rehabilitation of that road where we have engaged a contractor”.

He assured the governor that the ministry will continue to partner with his government and indeed, the various state governments to ensure that the dividends of the transformation agenda in the road sector are brought to the people.