Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has advised the Federal
\nGovernment to include the East-West road among the critical
\ninfrastructural projects being funded from the coffers of the nation’s
\nSovereign Wealth Fund.<\/p>\n
The governor has also noted that the Federal Government’s directive
\nstopping State governments from funding the construction or
\nrehabilitation of failed federal roads is inimical to the effective
\ndevelopment, management, and maintenance of road infrastructure across
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
He made this assertion in his opening address at the 26th meeting of the
\nNational Council on Works in Port Harcourt on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Governor Wike said the theme of the meeting: “Infrastructure
\nDevelopment, Job Creation and National Economic Growth” fits to the
\ngenerally held view that road infrastructure plays a critical role in
\nenabling economic development, poverty reduction and inclusive progress.<\/p>\n
Governor Wike pointed out that the East \u2013 West road which is too
\nimportant to the economic prosperity of the South-South region and the
\nnation has been under construction for over 15 years, yet a completion
\ndate is still not in sight.<\/p>\n
He urged Federal Government to urgently consider funding the East-West
\nRoad from the Sovereign Wealth Fund to guarantee its completion by 2022
\nas being taunted by the Minister of the Niger Delta.<\/p>\n
The governor observed that presently the Federal Government appears
\noverwhelmed with the construction and provision of too many road
\nprojects across the country. He then suggested that it would have been
\nbetter for the Federal Government to complete most of the on-going roads
\nbefore embarking on new ones.<\/p>\n
Governor Wike, advised the Federal Government to reconsider its
\ndirective stopping State Governments from funding the construction or
\nrehabilitation of failed federal road which if not promptly fixed will
\nupset economic growth in the affected States and challenge the wellbeing
\nof citizens.<\/p>\n
“It makes progressive sense as a development strategy therefore for
\nState Governments to reconstruct such federal roads with reputable
\ncontractors on behalf of the Federal Government and get refunded after
\ndue verification of the price and quality of work done.<\/p>\n
“The Federal and State Governments need to consult and collaborate
\nregularly to accelerate the delivery of road infrastructure to advance
\nand realize the hopes and aspirations of our people for development and
\ndecent living.”<\/p>\n
Governor Wike explained that the State government is presently
\nconstructing six flyovers a federal government road to ease the
\nperennial traffic congestions on the problematic intersections of Port
\nHarcourt \u2013 Aba expressway.<\/p>\n
“Let me, therefore, appeal to the Federal Government to continue to
\ncollaborate with the State Governments on road development by allowing
\nStates to fix federal roads with the assurance of a refund.”<\/p>\n
The governor stated that his administration has consistently dedicated
\nover 65% of the State budget annually for the construction of new roads
\nor the reconstruction and or maintenance and rehabilitation of existing
\nroads across the State, including federal roads.<\/p>\n
“The result is the unprecedented delivery of close to 900 kilometres of
\nroads, bridges and flyovers spread across the length and breadth of the
\nState, including some of the far-flung communities that have now been
\nlinked by roads for the first time.”<\/p>\n
Minster of Work and Housing, Babatunde Fashola said the covid-19
\npandemic brought to the fore the importance of human mobility to the
\nhealth of any economy with the urban poor appearing to be the worse hit
\nas a result of the lockdown.<\/p>\n
According to him, part of measures adopted by the Federal Government to
\nkick-start economic recovery processes was to focus on agriculture
\nincluding the resumption of construction work in 26 states with its
\nattendant multiple effects on the local economy.<\/p>\n
Mr. Fashola explained that against the former practice of flexible
\npavement connection module that was cost-intensive, but his ministry is
\nready to unveil the rigid design manual which is cost-effective and will
\nguide construction activities in the country.<\/p>\n
Chairman of Senate committee of works,\u00a0 Senator Adamu Aliero who
\nadvocated the setting up of an infrastructural bank as an alternative
\nsource of funding of federal road projects said it has become
\npractically difficult for the Federal Government to fund the 711 roads
\ncaptured in the federal budget.<\/p>\n
Rivers State Commissioner for Works,\u00a0 Edoka Tasie-Amadi said it has
\nbecome more imperative for the present generation to plan for the future
\nand end the perennial road infrastructural deficit expletives today.<\/p>\n
Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has advised the Federal Government to include the East-West road among the critical infrastructural projects being funded from the coffers of the nation’s Sovereign…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75181,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n