Construction work is ongoing at the Oron Marine Terminal, Shoreline Protection and Jetty being funded by the Akwa Ibom State Government.
The project, awarded by the Ministry of Works and Fire Service in 2024, and being handled by JMK Construction Limited, appears massive, as its various components stand blazing in form and in quality.
Addressing a team of journalists from the Association of Eket Senatorial District Media Practitioners on Monday, the JMK Project Manager, Engr Ime Ikono, said the project has its components as the terminal building, the shoreline protection, the jetty, the warehouse, the coolroom for rice and seafood storage, internal road construction, among others.
Engr Ime Ikono addressing journalists at the project site on Monday.
He said, “There is also a floating bar. You know it is not everyone who would be coming here to travel. Others would also be here for relaxation purposes. That will be another beautiful spot that will attract a lot of people to this place.
“We will also have a joint tax force (JTF) office. That is particularly meant to ensure that the place is fully secured.
“We are constructing the cargo ship somewhere in Port Harcourt. We have another one that is also under construction for movement of vehicles. It is a double-deck ship that will take about 20 vehicles and also convey human passengers.
“There is provision for a wide public park that can accommodate up to 2,000 vehicles at the same time. We are going to alsphat the whole area.”
Engr Ikono said the company was targeting the deadline of handing over the complete project to the government in December this year, but pointed out that its timely delivery is subject to payment of compensation by the government.
“The only challenge we are having right now is the delay in payment of compensation. If that is done, I will capture the whole of that site, bring down that fence (pointing to a direction), extend it immediately, remove the kiosk and all the unsuitable, and then start to fill to commence the road network.
“I don’t want to talk about the weather, because we are used to it. We work whenever the weather gives us a little bit of respite.
“The project will have serious economic benefits for Oro People in particular and Akwa Ibom in general. It will also open tourism routes for the area”, he concluded.
Meanwhile, the contractor handling the Nsit Atai Okobo Road project, the Hensek Integrated Services Limited, has assured that the project would be delivered in August this year for commissioning in September.
The site engineer, John Ekongson, who spoke with the monitoring team on Monday along the Okobo roundabout, said the road is 95 percent completed.
Engr John Ekongson speaking with journalists at the Nsit Atai Roundabout on Monday.
Ekongson stated that the 14.5 kilometres road was at the verge of completion, because the wearing cost, which is the final alsphat, had been done in all the stretch of the road, leaving behind small portions from after DPL to Nsit Atai junction, and the one before Okobo junction.
Saying the short period will not hinder their progress of work against the delivery deadline, Ekongson stated, “Everything is intact; we are also active. As you can see, it was raining. But we’re all here at the site with our equipment. That tells you that we are defying the rains to deliver on the project within the expected time frame.
“The drains are remaining just 140 metres to be completed in the whole stretch of 14 plus kilometres. There will be street lights in the entire stretch.
“The major work here are the two roundabouts: the Nsit Atai and the Okobo roundabouts. I can tell you that before the end of next week, which is about 14 days from today, this roundabout will be delivered.
“Between now and August, we will deliver and hand over the complete project to the government”, he said.
It would be recalled that the Association of Eket Senatorial District Media Practitioners rounded off its three-day media symposium last weekend with projects monitoring, which ended on Monday.
The team was led by the Association’s chairman, Elder Edet Okpo; the vice chairman, Comrade Akra Bassey, with other executive members, including other members from various media outlets.
