By Tina Oki
The Commissioner for Works (Urban and Highways), Mr Noel Omodion, has said that the Ministry of Works recorded 58% budget performance as at last October 2022, in the 2022 fiscal year.
Mr Omodion disclosed this recently while presenting the scorecard of the ministry in the outgoing 2022 fiscal year.
According to Mr Omodon, since the inception of the Okowa’s administration in 2015, the ministry has handled a total of 748 civil engineering projects valued at N624.7b which includes highways, urban and rural roads, drainage structures, bridges, rehabilitation and maintenance.
He stated that the records covered 1,753.87km of road and 1,045.73km of drainage channels.
The works commissioner stated that the main thrust of the 2023 budget was completion of ongoing projects, funding of the big projects that would span beyond 2023 because of their sizes as well as substantial payments of outstanding and retention bills for completed projects.
Mr Omodon further explained that the N107.4b budgetary provisions of the Capital Estimates covers the Economic and Environment sectors as well as Transport, Sewerage and Drainage, and Urban and Regional Planning sub-sectors.
Speaking further in an interview alongside his counterpart in-charge of Rural and Riverine Roads, Hon. Solomon Golley, Omodon stated that several road projects embarked upon by the Okowa government in the three senatorial districts of the state would be vigorously pursued to completion.
The commissioners emphasized that the deliberate attempt to channel funds towards completion of ongoing projects was to actualize the Stronger Delta agenda of the Okowa-led administration.