The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN) Tuesday revealed that the Federal Government would embark on the construction of over 6,000 kilometres of roads across the country if its 2016 budgetary proposal of N433 billion is approved by the National Assembly.
Fashola, who made the disclosure during his ministry’s budget defence organised by a Joint Committee of Works, Power and Housing of the House of Representatives, said the decision for the roads construction was sequel to wide consultations and the need to meet the needs of Nigerian road users.
He added that the roads were chosen based on certain considerations, including economic roads; roads that bear the heaviest traffic, and those near to completion.
“The roads to be constructed are economic roads. Roads that drive the economy, that serve the North and South, East and West and likely to give more value; roads that are used for transportation of goods such as foodstuff from the North to the South; used to convey petroleum products from South to other parts of the country. The others are roads that bear the heaviest traffic and impact as well as those near to completion that can be accelerated and concluded. Our intention is to leave no part of the country behind. We want to connect them,” Fashola said.
The minister also disclosed that the projects were intended to span a period of three years, from 2016 to 2018, with each year delivering 2,000km.
“Year one will focus on 31 projects covering 2,999.6km. The second year will take on 55 projects and cover 2,633.63km while year three is 49 projects with 2,051.59 km,” he said.
Giving a breakdown of the ministry’s N433bn budget estimates, Fashola explained that N268bn will go to power, N99bn to works and N66bn for the Housing component of the ministry.
The joint committee headed by Hon. Toby Okechukwu noted that some sections of the country are neglected by the ministry’s three-year road construction plan, particularly the North-East and the South-West geopolitical zones.
The lawmakers also expressed concern over the huge sum of money expended as consultancy fees for the ministry’s projects, demanding to know why consultants get 50 per cent of the total money voted for contracts.
Hon. Okechukwu posited that consultancy fees should not cost same or more than the projects, saying that when any Bill is passed into law, its provisions must be followed to the letter.
“If a Bill becomes law, the provisions of such law must be abided by, no matter its imperfections. If we appropriate a certain amount for projects, the money should go for such,” he said.
On his part, Hon. Abubakar Kannike said: “While we understand that consultants have to be paid, there must be a better way to it. The best step is to dissuade lump payment. We shouldn’t leave things to ambiguity.”
Fashola, however, advocated adequate budgetary provisions as lack of it will pose a great challenge to the ministry’s projects.
“The major challenge to timely completion of projects is inadequate budgetary provision for projects to sustain annual cash-flow requirement levels,” he said.
He also spoke on the possibility of toll gates to boost revenue and maintenance of roads, adding that there was the need to educate the public on the need to take care of roads.
He said: “A road can’t last forever; hence (the need for) maintenance. If we need to keep our roads in good condition, we need to source funds. Nigerians have to imbibe the culture of maintenance. We can’t build or construct, and not maintain. Roads were a lot better during days of toll gates. Even if the tolling administration wasn’t perfect, they were an avenue to generate funds for maintenance.”
-Leadership
