The Federal Government and Julius Berger Plc on Wednesday signed a N120bn agreement for the construction of the Bonny Road in Bayelsa State.

While the Federal Government will provide N60bn for the project, the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas will provide the balance.

At the signing ceremony, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the construction of the road would make a positive impact on the value chain.

He said, “Essentially, we formally sign the agreement today. It concluded the procurement process for starting the constructing process of the Bonny Bridge.

“This is important for many reasons. First, it complied with the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan, which the President launched to revive the economy, and one of the pillars of that plan is infrastructure provision. Therefore the NLNG has decided to add funds on equal basis to the project to the value of N120.6bn, and they will be taking 50 per cent of the cost of delivering the project, while government takes 50 per cent of the cost.

“This is a major statement in partnership with the private sector to deliver public infrastructure. We gather here to improve the quality of lives in the Niger Delta by spending more in developing infrastructure. We assure the residents that immediately work starts, we will start to see improvements in the various value chains.”

The Managing Director, NLNG, Mr. Tony Attah, said the project would open the Niger Delta to new frontiers of development.