Quarry and Asphalt Plant

…Makinde Vows to Resuscitate Asphalt Plant

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Oyo State Governor, Engr. Seyi Makinde, has revealed that the immediate past administration led by Senator Abiola Ajimobi awarded the Moniya-Iseyin Road for N7billion to a contractor with untraceable office address.

Makinde lamented that the sum of N2billion out of the total contract sum has been paid to the contractor he described as ‘faceless’, stressing that his assessment of the job done so far on the site would barely pass for N150million.

He said his effort at locating the site address of the contractor to interact with them on the level of work done despite the amount of money released, reveals that the given office address is not only untraceable but the name also faceless.

Makinde, who revealed this while on a tour of the road leading to the Pacesetter Quarry and Asphalt plant, located at Km 25, Moniya-Iseyin Road, Ojedeji Village, Akinyele local government for an assessment of the plant could not hide his disappointment over the shady way the last administration awarded the contract.

Governor Seyi Makinde inspecting the state quarry and Asphalt plant

He lamented that the road which serves as the economic route for farm and agricultural produce into the state could be abandoned after the contractor collected N2billion, with little or nothing to show for it on the project site.

The governor stated, “And you saw the road that we took to this place, the road is just not in a good state even if it for us to get this functional, we can patch this road to support the Ibadan-Moniya-Iseyin road because it is a major road linking Ibadan with our production centres of Oke Ogun as the food basket of the state and the country. My impression of the work done so far if I will have to evaluate and cost it, it couldn’t have been more than N150million that I will spend on it. It was a faceless contractor and we don’t even know where their offices are located. I could have stopped by to go discuss with them but there is nowhere to stop by”.

While speaking on the state-owned Pace Setter Quarry and Asphalt Plant which has been abandoned in the past eight years, Makinde expressed disappointment that the project that could have fetched the state some revenue was left unattended due to political difference.

State Quarry and Asphalt

The Asphalt plant was established during the tenure of Senator Rashidi Ladoja but could not attract any partner under the proposed Public-Private Partnership agreement.

He vowed to revive the company stressing that plans are already being made to revive the plant.

According to him, the economic benefits of the company is huge, pointing out that if the company starts working, it would generate income for the State, provide jobs as well as complementing the state government’s effort to provide good road network across the state.

He lamented that the plant was abandoned to rot away by the past administration while the state is patronizing third parties for asphalt to construct its road.

According to him, “What we will do is that we will look at what has gone on it through the files but it is a shame that we have an asset like this and it was just allowed to rot because of political considerations. And we will have to send people here to check the integrity of what we have here and quickly see what we can do because we are buying a whole lot of asphalt from other places for road maintenance agencies. What we came to do is to check the integrity of the plant. Sometimes, it may be better to start something from the start if we cannot bring this back to life, but the concept was well thought of and the state government has been buying asphalt from the third party, so we might as well put this back to life”.

In continuation of his visits in the state, Makinde paid unscheduled visit to CKC Primary School, Odo Ona, promising the pupils suitable desks and chairs for their classrooms by the end of the week.

Governor Seyi Makinde visited CKC Primary school, Odo Ona

According to him, “We are working towards providing a conducive environment for learning in all state-owned schools, and ensuring that staff are adequately trained and incentivised to deliver their best at work”.

Governor Seyi Makinde interracting with a pulpil of visited CKC Primary school, Odo Ona