MDNA expects East-West road completion by 2013

28 May 2012

The Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNDA) has revealed that the cost of a major new road has risen over the last few years.

MDNA confirmed that the East-West road in Nigeria, which runs 338 kilometres, is around 50 per cent complete and will now cost N360 billion (£1.44 billion), up from the original N200 billion.

The project is expected to reach completion sometime in 2013, but according to a source, non-governmental funding is needed to help finance the project.

"Bearing in mind the budgetary allocation to the MNDA, the minister has said we cannot do it alone," he told This Day, a leading news provider in Nigeria.

"We are now involved in multilateral collaborative efforts under the Niger Delta Collaborative Development Programme to complete the project."

The road infrastructure project could help ease congestion in the area and the movement of goods in the region, as well as boosting the local economy.