Rivers state government has described as misleading and malicious, a report that construction giant, Julius Berger, has started withdrawing from project sites in the state following alleged shortfalls in payment by the government.
A statement signed by the Senior Special Adviser, Media, to the Rivers State Government, Mr Hector Igbikiowubo said the report was a deliberate misrepresentation of facts and a calculated attempt to tarnish the reputation of the administration.
According to the statement, “The Rivers State Government has consistently and dutifully met all its contractual obligations to contractors, including Julius Berger Nigeria PLC, which has received all payments due since the declaration of Emergency Rule in the state.
“The real motive behind this baseless report is nothing more than a campaign of calumny orchestrated after failed attempts to pressure the Rivers State Government into approving an exorbitant and unjustified variation request for the ongoing Ring Road project. The facts are as follows:
*The original contract sum for the Ring Road project was N195,695,980,239.61 billion.
*Julius Berger submitted a variation request demanding an additional N171,755,448,105.05 billion, representing an 87.77% increase in project cost.
*If approved, this would raise the total project cost to a staggering N367,451,428,344.66 billion.
*It is important to note that in an attempt to forestall such unreasonable claims and protect the State from such arbitrary variation requests, the Rivers State Government at the commencement of the project took a facility from a bank and paid a 77% advance payment in the sum of 150,000,000,000.00 to Julius Berger”.
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