The Federal Ministry of Works has threatened not to pay any of its contractors, who engages in shoddy road construction.
The Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of Works, Mr. Umuna Ikenna, said this in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, when reacting to an allegation by Mr. Kunle Fajembola, a member of the Campaign for Democracy, who accused the government of using substandard contractors and materials.
“The ministry has decided that any contractor, who does a shoddy job on our road sites, will no longer be paid,” he said.
At a stakeholders’ forum in Ibadan, civil rights activists attributed the bad roads across the country to the poor work and materials by the ministry’s contractors.
Ikenna, an engineer, however, identified factors, such as overloading, lack of rail lines and dumping of refuse in the drainage as some of the reasons the roads do not last.
He added: “Durability of roads depends on designs. People may overload the vehicles. Those that carry cement and factory goods overload their vehicles. Loads meant for two trips are carried per trip.”
Ikenna said this was why the Ministry of Works introduced weigh bridges at Ojota and Owode Onirin in Lagos to know the weight of loads carried by vehicles, who plied the highways.
“There is over-dependence on road transportation. For over 16 years, there has been no rail construction, we depend on road transportation. It is recently that government is reviving the Lagos-Kano rail lines,” he said.
Ikenna said once the rail system becomes assured, the pressure on the roads would be reduced.
The engineer decried the attitude of Nigerians, who dump refuse inside the drainage, thereby causing erosion to wash away roads each time it rains.
He said the increase in vehicles, which plied the roads, also contributed to road damage.
“For instance, in 2012, over nine million vehicles were on the roads.”
Mr. Ikenna said the major problem of road building, maintenance and rehabilitation was funding, which, according to him, had not been adequate for some time now.
“Annually, the ministry gets between N100 billion and N102 billion to fund the building and maintenance of the highways and this has not been adequate,” he said.
He urged public/private partnership in fixing the roads, so that there would be an agreement as when the sponsors would recoup their money. Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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