Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, has
rubbished speculation that the Federal Government lacks the needed funds to
complete road projects across Nigeria.
He said on Wednesday that, “as it is now no single federal
highway is in jeopardy throughout the country either as a result of lack of
funding or improper supervision.”
Making the disclosure when he inspected the Kano-Katsina
Highway, Fashola identified lack of proper funding and right of way as the
major impediments retarding the progress of work on the ongoing projects in the
country, saying however that it is not a case of government lacking money to
complete them.
Fashiola said, “although we are making progress as you have heard from our controllers on the Kano section, we are now on the border between Kano and Katsina, similarly, work has started on the Katsina boundary section.”
He said the challenge now is of dualising what was a single
carriageway to a dual carriageway to make the road more conducive for a great
volume of traffic.
The minister said that means they must move people who have
set up facilities such as markets and shops and to relocate electricity poles
and other things like paying compensation as provided by the law.
“That is essentially a state responsibility because of the
powers granted to the state under the constitution with respect to land control
what we need really is right of way.
“We are hopeful that the state governors will respond and
cooperate with us we expect that from them so that we can provide the needed
infrastructure that will connect the states.
“Yesterday when I came into Kano I met with the governor and
he assured me that the state had gone far on the issue of payment of
compensation. I am hopeful that we will have a similar response from the Katsina
state governor,” he said.
While commenting on the issue of lack of funding said, “We
must commend our principal, the President, for his commitment in investing
whatever resources the Federal Government earned in building and providing
infrastructures. And that is really an investment for the future.
“As I said earlier, this road (Kano to Katsina) was a single
carriageway but somebody thought it wise to expand it and this is been done
across the country. We were, until now, living on ageing infrastructures and
were making business and daily activities quite challenging”.
On the role of SUKUK, he said it is currently covering
specific road networks across the country.
Fashiola said the finance ministry will release funds to
SUKUK in two weeks time for the continuation of the Kano to Katsina road
project.
He said on the Abuja, Kaduna, Zaria to Kano road: “I will
like to assure that the project will definitely be completed before the
President leaves office.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure that all the
Urban roads like Lagos Ibadan Expressed Way 2nd Niger Bridge Kaduna Western
bypass, Kano to Maiduguri and many more in the Southern and Eastern parts of
the country will be completed before the expiration of PMB’s tenure.
“Most of these projects will come under the Highway
Management Development initiative.”
He said with the coming of the present administration seven
years ago there is a serious commitment to infrastructural development and that
is why the Federal Government dissipated most of its resources on payments of
contractors.
“The most legitimate way to reach out to the common man is
by settling contractors who will, in turn, pay their debts and workers and
money paid to them stimulates the economy,” he said.
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