Works ministry to revive Lagos airport road project

Fashola wants adherence to plan in legislature

DETERMINED to revive the construction industry and save federal roads from falling into a state of disrepair, the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing has revealed plans to strengthen the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to become the biggest construction outfit capable of handling major projects.

The government will also commence work on economic roads such as the second Niger Bridge and Murtala International Airport in Lagos as a means to revive the employment of workers who had been sacked by the contractors handling the sites.

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola who made this known while addressing the Senate Committee on Works at the 2016 Budget Defence Session in Abuja, said that his ministry would give priority to on going projects in the six geopolitical zones of the country and see that they are completed within the shortest possible time.

He explained that the roads being prioritised represent the economic roads that will ensure connectivity between hubs of commerce and generate employment. “This in effect, is distinct from the practice in the past, where the inadequate budgetary provision is spread thin over so many projects without much being completed. They are roads bearing the heaviest traffic and those nearing completion are being given priority over the next three budget cycles.

“From the proposals, the first priority projects envisaged for the 2016 Budget are those on arterial highways and major river crossings which carry high volume of traffic and are critical to the economic well-being of the country with a total length of 2,192.76 km, distributed across the various zones,” he stated.

He added: “The purpose of that plan is to address first, economic roads like the Second Niger Bridge, the Lagos – Ibadan Express way, the Ilorin – Jebba road, so that a section at least, can be completed.”

On FERMA, Fashola said their plan is aimed at positioning the Agency to be able to carry out maintenance work on some of the sections of the road in a State of disrepair before major construction work can be done on them.

He urged the committee to retain the Medium Term Sector Strategy 2016 – 2018 Budget proposals of his Ministry in order to achieve the much-desired change and positive objectives. “Some members of the Committee have of course, pointed out that they wanted to see a plan. There is a plan before you and it is a plan that I appeal that you should kindly look at in more detail.”

Explaining that it was practically impossible to have come up with a 10 – year plan in less than 100 Days of being in Office as suggested by one of the Senators, the Minister explained that it was important to come up with a practical proposal for implementation to avoid the danger of losing the entire dry weather while making elaborate plans.

Fashola noted that the time had come for the Senators to insist on what will make the meaningful impact in the life of the citizenry by endorsing the Ministry’s proposal unlike what was done in the past.

Rounding off the session, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Kabiru Gaya commended the Minister and his team for the depth of work done within a short period to produce the proposal and promised that his Committee would work with the Ministry to come up with a final Budget that will help achieve the desired objectives of both the Executive and the legislature.