The Federal Government, has said that roads located in the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones, are the worst in the country.
This was made known when the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, appeared before the Senate Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, headed by Senator Magnus Abe.
Chairman of FERMA Committee, Senator Abe, noted that Senators who are the true representatives of the people, were usually sidelined by Heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies of the Federal Government, when mulling siting of projects.
He said: “As elected representatives of the people, if the Federal Government is doing anything in your areas, our inputs are hardly needed. We will then have to fight for relevance.
“We are meeting you because of the challenges FERMA, which is under your supervision is facing. Is this Agency relevant in your scheme of things in your Ministry? We need you to touch on the core challenges of this Agency.”
On his part, Fashola said: “When we did the audit of our roads, we discovered that some sections are bad. Many roads have outlived their lifespans. Many roads in the South-East and South-South were built before the civil war. They are among the worst in the country. They need to be replaced.
“Funds generated from Sukuk have not been released, because of the conditions tied to them. We will try and repair the roads before people start travelling for the festivities in December. We are doing something about that.”
On the Challenges facing FERMA, Fashola noted: “One of the reoccurring stories of under performance which we inherited, is that of Ministerial interference. We have tried to supervise without interfering. As best as possible, we try not to.
“I have tried to enable government see what it is spending in each of the Parastatals under my Ministry. In the past, FERMA spent money on areas it had no business with. That has to stop. If you allocate money and it is spent on Local Government roads, it means something is wrong. The core mandate of FERMA is to repair Federal roads.
“FERMA can be the largest construction company in the country. It depends on what we are willing to put into the Agency. In the past, FERMA collected monies for roads they did not construct.
“We are working with the Army Corps to see how we can develop local content. The unemployment challenges we have can be reduced, if FERMA is busy in every State.”
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