BY MYKE UZENDU, ABUJA
Following frequent vandalisation of railway tracks across the country by criminals, the Minister of Transport, Senator Saidu Alkali, has directed contractors handling the Kaduna-Kano rail line to use anti-theft construction materials instead of iron.
The minister gave the directive while inspecting the level of work done on the railway project site in Makarfi Local Government area of Kaduna state.
He also directed the contractors to use anti-theft clips instead of the metal clips they used to hold the rail track.
“We came to see by ourselves; seeing is believing. We can appraise the performance of the contractors of the Kaduna-Kano rail project.
“You can see as we stand here, we started raining some little observations in the clips they use. We asked them to use anti-theft clips so that they cannot be easily removed,” Alkali said in a statement.
The minister added that the government would collaborate with security agencies to ensure the delivery of the project on time.
Earlier, the project coordinator of China Civil Engineering Construction Company, Mark Zoe, said the project has reached 22.6 per cent completion.
The contractors, however, lamented that insecurity has become a major challenges in the area.
He solicited for collaboration with the military on security as he disclosed that two staff of the company were kidnapped along Tashar Yari in Makarfi Local Government area of Kaduna state in the past two months.
