Government Will Welcome More Private Sector Investment In Infrastructure Devt.- Official
By Gloria Usman, Abuja
The Federal Government will welcome more public private investment in infrastructure development says an official of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH).
The Director, Highway Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH), Mr Folorunsho Esan, said this recently in Kaduna.
Esan said this during a two-day inspection of Rehabilitation of 64.600 kilometre Zaria-Gisau-Sokoto-Birnin-Kebbi road, Funtua-Zaria Section.
According to him, more private people are getting more involved in the provision of infrastructure.
"This is NNPC financed contract, it's under the NNPC tax credit scheme.
"Everyday we are having private people coming in we have several applications waiting with us and we are going to have more of the private sector involvement as time goes on," Esan said
Expressing satisfaction about the quality and pace of the project, the director said the contractor was working according plan specifications.
"We have driven to the end of the contract and we have seen the completed sections and surely they will meet the deadline," he said.
He said that the quality of work was commendable and contractor had left no reason for condemnation.
On questions about the activities of trucks and tanker drivers which may cause quick damage on the road, Esan said the Zaria-Funtua road has minimal rate at which heavy vehicles are parked at the roads shoulder.
He however said where they have challenges of heavy vehicles including tankers and trucks, the ministry had involved the state governments and the associations of trucks and tanker owners.
"Those operating trucks and tankers are supposed to provide where they will be keeping them, the Government is not duty bound to provide garages for them because they are into business", Esan said.
On his part, Mr Adebayo Taiwo, Director, Highway North-West, described the Zaria-Funtua road project as impressive.
He said the contractors had to work hard considering their full mobilisation inorder to meet up the target.
He noted that after completion of the road, it would be handed over to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to ensure it remain in good condition.
"We also do emergency work on roads especially where there are threats that could damage the roads,"Taiwo said.
Also, the Project Engineer of the Zaria-Funtua road, Mr Wajdi El'ejel, assured that they would finish the project on time.
"By ending of October 2022, we will complete the project by God's grace, we are 75 per cent done," he said.
One of the resident of Giwa Local Government Area, Mr Sule Bala, said the road before the construction was in a terrible state.
He said they usually spent about three hours from Giwa to Funtua which was usually a journey of not more than 30 minutes.
He thanked the Federal Government for the road construction and prayed that Nigeria would vercome it's numerous challenges especially those bordering on Insecurity.
Another resident of Giwa, Sani Abbas-Giwa, also appreciated the efforts of Government and appealed to the contractors to construct speed breakers on the completed sections of the road.
How's explained that this was necessary because many of their children were hit by speeding drivers.
"We had needed many interventions from the government which included good roads, and now it has been actualised, through the project is still on going.
"What we need now is better security and protection of lives and properties of our people,"Abbas-Giwa said.
JOWB report that the road which is at 75 per cent completion is being handled by Mothercat Limited and at a sum of N16,925 billion and expected to be completed by Oct. 2022.
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