The former Governor of Ebonyi state and the current Minister for Works, David Nweze Umahi, has announced that the initiated reform palliative work on all failed federally roads will kick off on the 1st of December, 2023.
This was revealed in a personal statement posted on his X (formerly Twitter) account on Monday where Umahi stated that the kick off emanated from heart wrenching complaints of road users who constantly bemoan the deadly state of federal roads.
The roads in question includes the Makurdi-Nsukka 9th Mile Road, East-West Road, Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway, Benin bypass road, collapsed bridges of Enugu- Port Harcourt road, collapsed bridges of Shandam-Plateau State, Abuja-Kaduna- Zaria-Kano road and Gombe- Bauchi among others.
His statement reads, “The attention of the Federal Ministry of Works has been drawn to the concerns of the public on the deplorable situations of some sections of the Federal roads throughout the Federation as reported in many media platforms, especially social media and newspaper pages.”
“Mr. President is not complaining of the challenges he inherited in nearly all sectors of the economy, especially as it concerns our road infrastructure and he has directed that works in those palliative projects must commence before 1st December 2023, while observing all due process.
“On the sections being frequently complained of by the public in all regions of the North and South of the country, Mr. President has equally isolated them and directed immediate actions on them and indeed work has started on all such roads. The public can crosscheck our claims and report back to us,” he further explained.
The minister also asked the general public to assist the ministry by watching contractors that will be engaged in palliative works of road infrastructure adding that genuine informants would be periodically recognised publicly in a public engagement forum.
Umahi also encouraged the public to photograph all badly constructed roads and report immediately to the following contacts: 08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197; showing the name of the contractor, the location and type of contract and defects observed.
He further said, “The public is hereby requested to assist the Federal Ministry of Works and FERMA by supervising the contractors that will be engaged in these palliative works and indeed all ongoing projects. It is the right of every Nigerian to have value for their money deployed to the road infrastructure sector and therefore must show both interest and passion in all the ongoing projects. All poorly constructed roads should be photographed and reported immediately to the following contacts: 08030986263, 08037086137, or 08106423197; showing the name of the contractor, the location and type of contract and defects observed.
“The Federal Ministry of Works will document such reports, verify and take effective action to correct such infractions. The Ministry shall also periodically recognise publicly those who made such reports that are genuine in a public engagement forum to be hosted quarterly and will sanction such erring contractors publicly too.”
He also stated that a new policy that provides guidelines on the use of concrete and asphalt pavements in road construction projects nationwide.
“On the use of asphalt: contractors shall stick to only a 5 per cent Variation on Price in line with the signed contract agreement throughout the project and the signed contract shall not be subject to review, especially on bituminous items.
“The thickness of the asphalt pavement as designed must be strictly adhered to by all such contractors and the design shelf life for the asphalt (at least 15 years) shall be guaranteed by issuing an insurance bond through a reputable insurance company in favor of the Federal Government.
“For the use of concrete, contractors must abide by the 5 per cent VOP, and 50-year design shelf life using concrete grade 40.”
The minister also frowned at those condemning the concrete technology policy.
His words, “This new policy has not violated any law and the Ministry is forging ahead with this new policy. As of today, most of the ongoing projects are still ongoing with asphalt pavement in line with this new policy while some are redesigned on concrete pavement, depending on the terrain and with full understanding of the affected contractors of those projects”.
