New parameters have been introduced to improve the quality of road infrastructure that will be executed under Nigeria’s Ministry of Works Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI)
The Initiative is a Public Private Partnership model of road infrastructure development.
At a meeting with the Public Private Partnership Unit of the Ministry and Messrs Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Ltd (APPNL) concessionaires, Nigeria’s Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi introduced the new guidelines to strengthen quality delivery.
Senator Umahi explained that the guidelines will be fine-tuned, agreed upon and adopted in all contractual relations between the Federal Government and concessionaires going forward. He highlighted the parameters to include:
“The design of the project is to be in line with the specification of the Federal Ministry of Works and investors can only improve upon the design made by the Ministry.
“A reasonable construction period must be agreed upon.
“There shall be no variation on the project.
“100% of one carriageway must be completed before tolling by concessionaires.
“The business plan must be in line with the socio-economic dynamics.
“Terms of tolling of road projects must be by the Laws of the Federation, and standard contract conditions must be followed.
“Contingency and variation on Price (VOP) shall be utilized only by the express and written permission of the client.
“Bill of Quantities shall be verified and adopted in line with the prevailing market prices.
“Road count on traffic shall be carried out by the investor and where such data has been provided by the client, it is the duty of the investor to accept or verify and where the investor accepts, it shall be binding on all.
“It shall be the duty of the investor to sensitize the public on the toll programme in every project.
“The client shall have the right to terminate the job of the investor for failure to comply with the time of road project completion.
“Every road construction for highways must be by the highway standard prescribed by the Laws of the Federation,” he said.
The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the pressures caused by inflation, rising exchange rate, reduced vehicular movement due to the increase in the pump price of Premium Motor Spirit and how these factors are affecting the project parameters for the Benin-Asaba and Lagos-Abeokuta Road corridors as negotiated in 2022 by Messrs. Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Ltd (APPNL).
In separate responses, the team leader of the APPNL and the head of the PPP unit of the Federal Ministry of Works assured the Works Minister of their commitment to delivering good and quality roads to Nigeria.
They also appreciated the Minister for recognising the need for a review of the projects caused by the changing economic condition of the country.
Dominica Nwabufo
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