PUNCH.

The Bayelsa State Government has, again, called on the Niger Delta Development Commission to prioritise the completion of its long-abandoned bridge project at Akenfa, a suburb of the Yenagoa metropolis.

According to the government, the bridge project, which crosses the Epie Creek and the access road to link the second phase of the New Yenagoa Gateway Road, was strategic to the socio-economic development of the community and the state.

The state Deputy Governor, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, reiterated the call during a meeting with the leadership of Akenfa community and representatives of the NDDC in Government House, Yenagoa.

A statement issued by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mr Doubara Atasi, said that Ewhrudjakpo urged the state office of the NDDC to effectively engage its headquarters with a view to completing the project.

He clarified that the Bayelsa government did not have the powers to revoke and re-award contracts awarded by the interventionist agency.

Ewhrudjakpo pointed out that only the NDDC had the prerogative to terminate the contract and re-award it to a competent contractor, but the state government was ready to collaborate with the commission to resume and complete the project.

He said, “We are coterminous in terms of the value the project will add. We know of social security and other benefits when it is completed. But as we speak, we are quite divergent as to how we get to that coterminous point.