Nigeria’s minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has decried how land issues, compensation and court cases pose a persistent obstacle in construction of roads in Nigeria’s highways.
The Minister made the assertion, on Thursday in Kebbi State at the National Council of Works, where in he also pointed out that conflicts, security breaches also pose other forms of risks to construction workers,which according to him escalates budget of road construction through delays in project completion and other forms of insurance.
Fashola,at the Council meeting also informed that Present Muhammadu Buhari led administration has a road infrastructure presence in all the states of the Generation despite meeting all price at a significantly low price while he took up the mantle of Nigeria’s leadership in 2015.
“From rail to ports, power and roads, this administration is resolute in its determinate to complete ongoing or abandoned projects. Today, there is no state in Nigeria where the federal government of Nigeria is not executing one road project,” Fashola said.
According to Fashola,”In 2015, when I took office, there were over 200 roads whose contracts values were in excess of N2 trillion and for which payments had only cumulated to about N500 billion.”
Some of the roads, Fashola said had been awarded for upwards of 10 years,even as pointed out that,”Inadequate budget and funding had delayed their completion. Many sites had been abadoned, workers laid off, equipment grounded.”
Speaking further on what the present administration has done, Fashola said,”With significantly lower oil incomes,we got the contractors back to site one after the other. We raises the budget size from N4 trillion to N6 Trillion in 2016, and increase capital spending to 30%; which was funded by borrowing to finance the deficit.”
“Our reality today is that the roads that were awarded 10 years ago and we’re not funded then have to be funded at today’s prices of money, interests rates, and at today’s prices of cement, iron rod, late rite and labour wage,” Fashola said.
Fashola remarked further that some of the constraints delaying Nigeria’s value for money in Nigeria’s road construction include:the absence of uniform Public Sector Procurement Prices; proper project planning,development and supervision.
Others,he listed also include:Increasing local content in Nigeria Road Construction and implementing Presidential order 5,and proper project planning, development and supervision.
He further suggested post-construction maintenance of scheduled and unschedules nature’s to achieve asset life cycle expectations.
