‘Government to rehabilitate highway ahead of yuletide’

The Federal Government plans to institutionalise the ’ember months’ organised by Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to involve contractors, motorists and others on how the nation’s road should be made motorable during the yuletide period.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, revealed this at a briefing in Abuja, saying the government will be mobilising all stakeholders for the purpose of rehabilitating road networks in preparation for the year.

Fashola regretted that a few months of discomfort should not be a period of fighting, calling on the stakeholders to hold constant interactions with the government to understand its predicament during a bad season.

“This is why the federal government will continue to borrow to fix road infrastructure and security in the country. Let us continue this way, it will get better. We are constructing rail lines from Ajaokuta to Kaduna. We want cargo on the rail,” Fashola said.

He added that by March 2022, institutions should begin rainy season programmes without involving the ministry, urging the contractors to be involved by submitting inputs on the yearly event aimed at making roads passable all seasons.

He noted that during the yuletide period there is a high volume of traffic, saying, “This is so because many goods and services are transported on the road.