Rep blames corrupt officials for bad roads
The Deputy Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Usman Nafada, on Wednesday, accused the officials of
the Federal Ministry of Works of colluding with road contractors to do
poor jobs, saying it is the major reason why roads fail in the country.
Mr Nafada spoke in Abuja at a public hearing on a bill sponsored by a
suspended member of the House, Austin Nwachukwu (PDP, Imo) alongside 10
others for unruly behaviour on the floor and accusing the leadership of
corruption.
The bill is titled, “A bill for an Act
to Construct, Build and Maintain Roads and Erosion Projects for Five
Years before Handing Over and Other Matters connected therewith.” Mr
Nafada, who represented the Speaker, Dimeji Bankole at the hearing,
said the ministry officials do not carry out proper on contractors
executing government’s job and in most cases compromise standard for
pecuniary gains.
Urgent need for action
“We need to do something on the state
of our roads,” he said. “I don’t want to blame the construction
companies, there are people supervising them. For a certificate of no
objection to be raised, there is someone either in the ministry or
FERMA that would have said the project was satisfactory. Fraudulent
practices by these officials cause roads to fail.” The deputy speaker
regretted that Nigeria spends more money on road than other African
countries but still has more bad roads than those countries.
“The problem of Nigeria is corruption,”
he said. “Neighbouring countries spend less than half of what Nigeria
pay per kilometre for road construction, yet they get better roads
produced for them at the end of the day. Roads in better clime are
constructed to last for at least 30 years but roads in Nigeria hardy
last two years before collapse. Some are even washed away before they
are commissioned. This is not good enough but those saddled with the
task of monitoring the stages of the construction up to finishing are
in most cases part of the problem.”
He did not spare the foreign
construction companies operating in Nigeria either. Mr Nafada accused
accusing them of building substandard roads for Nigerians. “Foreign
companies operating in Nigeria, you know the condition of roads in your
country,” he said. “It is criminal for you to come here and build
sub-standard roads that will not stand the test of time.” However, Mr
Nafada applauded the efforts of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency
(FERMA), stating that the agency has been trying to improve the quality
of the roads they construct.
The works minister, Sanusi Daggash blamed the state of the roads
across the country on untimely and late releases of funds. He noted
that the level of deficits incurred by government on road construction
is high. He called for the establishment of a contingency fund to be
domiciled in the Ministry of Works to deal with emergency maintenance
works that are no budgeted for. The minister added that the operations
of FERMA could be enhanced if the agency is given a free hand in
choosing the roads to be maintained just as he demanded that the agency
should be put on first line charge. Olumuyiwa Ajibola, who stood in for
the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) blamed the state of the roads
in the country on inadequate time for planning and design, imperfect
system of contract award, lack of quality supervision, inadequate
funding and contract administration and inappropriate usage of roads
all contribute to putting the roads in a deplorable condition.
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