Road maintenance beyond budgetary allocation – FG

The Minister of State Works, Barrister Bello Muhammad Goronyo has said the federal government is looking beyond budgetary allocation to carry out maintenance of roads network across the country. Barrister Goronyo disclosed this in Lokoja on Monday during his familiarization tour to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Kogi State field office. The Minister of State […]

The Minister of State Works, Barrister Bello Muhammad Goronyo has said the federal government is looking beyond budgetary allocation to carry out maintenance of roads network across the country.

Barrister Goronyo disclosed this in Lokoja on Monday during his familiarization tour to Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Kogi State field office.

The Minister of State work who stated that the country is out to look beyond the box to fix deplorable roads ,said that the move is in agreement with the global practices.

He said the federal government has constructed a toll gate on Keffi-Akwanga highway in an attempt to raise fund outside budgetary allocation to maintain the highway, in order to improve transportation business ,to boom the economy of the nation.

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“I have visited some of the projects executed by FERMA in Kogi State, but no where in this world that budget can be use to maintain roads effectively.

” Therefore we are looking for alternative funding so that we can continue to maintain the nation’s critical assets like road that is vital to the citizens and the economy of the country.

He commended president Bola Tinubu for giving priority attention to road projects across the country, stressing that the effort would boost the nation’s economy, with reduction in cases of crimes and insecurity to the barest minimum.

He assured the staff of FERMA of improved welfare shortly, assuring that the parent ministry will continue to give the desired attention in that direction.

Barrister Goronyo therefore urged the staff of the agency to redouble their effort in ensuring that they deliver quality jobs.

“We are rebranding FERMA to meet the challenges of the 21st century and to whom much is given much is expected in return.

” Therefore, put the national interest over and above any personal interest to fix the country. You should work hard and support the president to deliver on his mandate” he said.

In his speech , the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer of FERMA, Engr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi, stated that the visit of the minister to the state was to enable him to inspect and asses the level of work done on the federal roads in Kogi State.

He commended the minister for his concern , focus and determination to ensure the agency improve its performance, assuring that FERMA would continue to deliver on its mandate despite obvious challenges.

Earlier, the Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer (FRME)
in charge of Kogi state, Muktar Abdulrahim, said that the agency oversees the maintenance of sixteen federal roads across the state .

According to him, the challenges bedevilling the agency in the state include, paucity fund, insecurity, insufficient budgetary allocation, high cost of construction materials,
price of construction equipment.

In his bid to assess the level of the work of the agency in the state , the minister
carried out inspection tour to Ajaokuta and Ogori magogo in the central district of the state where the agency carried out repairs on some collapsed part of the federal highways.