The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that it will spend a total sum of ₦75, 765,087,178.28 to carry out palliative works on collapsed portions on roads across the country in order to ease the movement of people and goods within the Ember Months, especially during Christmas and New Year festive period.
This announcement was the highlight of stakeholders meeting convened by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, aimed on how to make the roads motorable and as well to restore sanity and safety to the federal highways.
Those who attended the stakeholders’ meeting include the representatives from the National Road Transport Owners, NARTO, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC. Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA, and contractor handling the various road projects in the country, where they are promised to fix failed portions of critical roads across the Federation.
Read Also: Declare State Of Emergency On Bad Roads – Senate Tells Buhari
The Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Funso Adebiyi, who opened the discussion, said the current raining season has affected many sections of the road across the country.
He hinted that there is a need for urgent palliative works on such roads to avoid further deterioration, adding that such roads were identified.
He said the affected roads have been mapped out and will be awarded to contractors for palliative work as part of preparation for Ember Months.
According to him, the total cost for the repair works is estimated to cost ₦75,765,087,178.28 to carry out palliative works on those roads.
In his address, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola appealed to stakeholders in the road sector to rededicate their efforts towards improving safety and sanity on the highways.
Fashola said that the government is doing is to move almost the Cargos by road and as Railway network is fast and I hope that we will divert all our Cargos to Railway track. So that is when we will have full long time value of the road.
He noted that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is making efforts to ensure that overloaded trucks no longer ply the nation’s highways.
According to him, a measurement scale device installed on a computer will be put in place around the nation to ensure that trucks and haulage vans do not convey excess goods.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK