Kunle Adelabu
About three years after the contractor handling the Paul Palmer Road construction abandoned the project, the facilitator of the project, Rep. Babajimi Benson, Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Defense, has opened up on the challenges he faced.
The project, as reported by THE IMPACT about two weeks ago, has been extended to link Igbe road which reconstruction was also facilitated by the federal lawmaker.
Contract for construction of the 330metre road project (as it was initially before it was extended) first awarded to the Fountain Dauglade Limited by the Federal Ministry of Works & Housing, Headquarters, Mabushi, Abuja, in 2019.
The contractor moved to site on January 15, 2019, to start the construction but the project was abandoned on November 23, 2019.
In an exclusive interview with Rep. Benson, he said that the road project, which was the first he facilitated in the division, made many people to laugh at him despite embarking on it with good intension.
He said that constituents failed to understand that his work as a legislator is simply to facilitate projects and not to execute them.
“Paul Palmer Road, oop! (sigh a relief). That’s a road that I facilitated and people started laughing at me. With best of intentions, I wanted us to get on the road and complete it”, Rep. Benson recalled.
“It was meant to be completed within three months but has dragged forever, because we didn’t get a good contractor.
“What people don’t understand is that my job is to lobby. The job of awarding and sending contractor is that of the agencies, but they didn’t give us a good contractor. Unfortunately, the contractor also died during the period.
“So, I had to lobby again to get another help for that job and it has been extended in order to compensate people for the shoddy job done by the other contractor”.
While recognizing the plights that residents of the area went through while the project was abandoned, Rep. Benson said that the project has not only been extended to compensate them, but also will be powered by solar lights after completion.
“We are also going to ensure that the road has Streetlights after completion. So that residents will appreciate it at the end and commend us”, Rep. Benson said.
“During the period the project was abandoned, they wrote petitions to everybody but some of these things you have to endure as a politician. You meant well but your good intention may also cause grief.
“I remember that the contractor dug up all the area which caused people hardship during raining season and this led to several curses.
“These curses would now be blessings because we are not only completing the project but also compensating the people with an extension”, the lawmaker said.
