The group claimed that Sermatech lacked the necessary experience to manage a 50-kilometer stretch of challenging terrain that connected Oku-Iboku in Itu LGA of Akwa Ibom State to Ikot-Nyong in Onim Ankiong Ward of Odukpani Local Government Area, Cross River State. The group had appealed to the Federal Government on November 28 to revoke the section of the 97-kilometer road that Sermatech had been granted.
However, in a statement released on Sunday, Mr. Ento Edako, the Sermatech representative for Cross River State, claimed that the group's plea for the contract's cancellation was founded on ignorance.
Edako stated that Sermatech was only managing 28 km of the 97 mile Odukpani-Itu highway, which crosses the states of Akwa Ibom and Cross River.
This is in contrast to the group's assertion that the business was managing a 50 kilometer stretch of the road.
Part of the statement said, "The mentioned portion is not included in the Sermatech section." Instead, it was Julius Berger. Julius Berger is in charge of this section that runs from the Odukpani intersection to the Power plant location.Four bridges are part of Sermatech, not five, as this anonymous group claimed. Two of the four bridges in our segment, the Atan and Okpokong bridges, are entirely built and completed by us.
"Sermatech has relieved commuters' pain on this section twice when traffic collapsed. This occurred prior to Faith Plant performing their palliative car.
To avoid misleading the public, the Federal Ministry of Works and NNPC, two project stakeholders, should provide accurate information to the Cross River South Consultative Forum.
The fact that Julius Berger, not Sermatech, is in charge of the specific area of concern should worry everyone greatly.
No part of the stretch of work we are working on has collapsed since we started working on the Odukpani-Itu Road.
This is a result of the constant palliative effort we do to maintain traffic flow.
To avoid misleading the public, the Cross River South Consultative Forum is advised to double-check its information before releasing any press releases.
Similarly, the NSE completely denounced the false information being spread by the group in a statement released by Dr. Desmond Ewa, the chairman of the Calabar chapter.
It was noted that Julius Berger Plc, not Sermatech, is the rightful owner of the appalling stretch in question.
NSE states, "We had visited the project site on multiple occasions for site inspections in order to keep an eye on its status and compliance with standards.
Sermatech is progressing admirably and deserves praise.
During his most recent visit to the project, the Minister himself commended Sermatech for a job well done.
Sermatech has only been allocated approximately 28 km of the appalling stretch in question, which belongs to Julius Berger Plc.
The NSE is recommending the socio-political group to stop interfering with the contractor's work and to let it go.
Since there is no other route to the state capital, any Cross Riverian with good intentions should be in favor of its completion.
Instead, they ought to exert pressure on the federal government to address the project's compensation problems.