By Evelyn Omotoye
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The contract for the construction of the 51 kilometers Araromi-Seaside-Lekki-Lagos road which has the potential of turning around the economic fortunes of Ondo State will be awarded this week, The Hope can authoritatively report.

Beside this, the Ayeka-Araromi-Irele road and Aboto waterworks reticulation to Igbokoda, Mahin and Ugbo will equally be commissioned during the second anniversary of the present administration.

Chairman, Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, OSOPADEC, Mr Gbenga Edema gave the hint while featuring as a guest on Owena Press Platform.

Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu and Chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission flagged off the 51 kilometers road last year.

According to the OSOPADEC boss, the tender documents for the road contract would be opened this week and the contractors to handle the project would be known. “You know it has a process, that means we will know the contractor who will actually win the  contract”, he said.

“To tell you that it is not a political gimmick, we had to break the contract into two lots, so two sets of contractors will be emerge. The state Tender Board will call any moment from now for the documents to be opened.”

The Araromi-Seaside-Lekki project, according to the OSOPADEC boss will link Ondo State with Lagos which he said will add serious advantages to the economy of Ilaje and the State in general.

“When the road is completed, it is going to open us to Lagos which is the commercial hub of Nigeria. Lagos has a huge market, and huge population,  so any state linked with Lagos will have a great advantage and that is what Ogun state is leveraging upon.

“So why don’t we also take advantage of the proximity to Lagos when we can share just about 30 kilometers from Araromi to Lekki. So the road is going to improve exponentially the economy of Ilaje local government and the entire State.

“That means somebody coming from Onitsha or Benin city needs not go through the long journey again but via off Ore to Igbokoda and in less than one and a half hours,  you are already in Lagos. This saves a lot of travel time”, he said.

Edema said the commission,  since his assumption of office has ensured that no inherited project is abandoned.

 Boosting the Internally Generated Revenue of the commission, Edema said approval has been given to float a Micro finance bank, establish table and bottle water factory from the Aboto waterworks which he said is the best in Nigeria, incorporated a company called Coastville Global Resources Ltd among others to see that the commission’s internally generated revenue is improved upon.

“By the approval of the governor, we now have a Micro finance bank. When we get license for the bank, it will help us manage the micro economy of our people because a lot of our people borrow money from Igbokoda and Ugbo at very  high interest rates, so if we are able to manage our own, we will be moderate in our deals since the bank will be regulated by the CBN.

“These are innovations we are putting in place to improve the well-being of our people and to also touch their lives in various ways”, he added.

He said the commission under his watch has succeeded in reconditioning the minds of the staff through training and retraining towards achieving the  vision of the commission

He equally stated that bursary and scholarships for the last two years had been paid, adding that payment of 2019 bursary is in the pipeline.