We will fix all the roads in Nigeria first, plan proper maintenance- Minister for Works
Read Time:1 Minute, 48 Second
Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has said the past administration failed to develop the nation when it had the resources to do so. He stated this on Tuesday night, at the Niger State Government House, Minna, during a courtesy visit to the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello.
He recalled that year back, the country had money, adding that those at the helms of affairs failed to develop the country.
‘‘It just tells you the situation in which this administration inherited the country and what we failed to do at the time when the nation was earning over $100 per barrel of crude oil a day, and what we failed to do then, we now have to do a lot more with less resources,’’ he said.
Fashola decried the poor state of the roads in the country, assuring that the Muhammadu Buhari administration is committed to fixing the roads and then shift focus to their maintenance on timely basis.
‘‘We are making 60 kilometer journey that should take 40 minutes, we are making it at one and a half to three hours,’’ he stressed.
The Minister, particularly, expressed concern over the deplorable state of the Ilorin- Jebba highway, and decried the time being wasted and the increasing rate goods were being damaged along the highway, due to the deplorable condition of the road.
‘‘As I said to those truck drivers along Ilorin-Jebba road, staying there for four days if they have the opportunity for a way where they will pay toll, it would have been better than losing four days and their perishable goods there. We will fix the roads first and we must go back to maintenance,” he said.
He added that indiscriminate parking of trailers and heavy-duty trucks on the road was also responsible for quick depreciation of our roads, insisting that the trailer drivers must find a place to park their trailers off the road.
According to him, the federal and state governments must work together to establish the right of way, as well as protect the highway setback, which he said, would lead to sanity on the roads.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0