As Nigerians celebrate the yuletide, the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi has read riot acts to contractors handling various road projects across the country against unilaterally closing any section of the federal highway in the name of construction without prior approval from the ministry
He specifically highlighted that federal roads like Abuja–Kano, Ife–Ibadan, Sokoto–Zamfara–Katsina, Enugu–Onitsha, Enugu–Port Harcourt, and Lokoja–Abuja must remain open to traffic at all times.
The Minister who stated this on Tuesday at an interaction meeting with contractors and senior officials, in Abuja, also announced total reorganisation of the Ministry of Works, that directors and senior engineers would no longer stay in the office but be redeployed to the field to supervise projects directly because there has been a major challenge with projects supervision.
The plans according to the Minister, is to equally digitalise project monitoring, including the creation of zonal project portals where contractors would upload site updates, valuations and certifications in real time for transparency and accountability.
“No contractor is permitted to close a site without the approval of the Federal Ministry of Works. Some sites must not close at all. Abuja–Lokoja cannot close. Some corridors are simply too critical. We would like some of our contractors that may be taking holidays to understand what is going on in their sites. Dont close the roads. Open them for vehicular movements.
“There must be approval by the Federal Ministry of Works before any closure. That is what the contract says and that is what the procedure says. We do not just close and open roads. We need to know. If you want to close, there are signs that must be in place. For example, the Abuja–Kano Road cannot just be closed. No place should be closed without our permission. This is very important, and I plead with you to be thorough on the roads,' he stated
The minister told contractors to always follow the terms of road contracts and established procedures during road project execution to prevent unnecessary hardship for road users, as they travel to celebrate.
“You don’t just close and open sites at will. The Ministry must know if you intend to close any section. That is what the contract says and that is what the procedure says.
“These are key national corridors. Abuja–Kano cannot close. Ife–Ibadan cannot close. Lokoja–Abuja cannot close. So no site will be closed without our permission.
“This is very important. We will be with you on these roads to ensure that the right thing is done, because if you say that the suffering of the people is because of multiple sections of roadways, and there are some places where the roads are bad. But the point of it is, go and see the coastal highway. They even killed somebody there. They were driving one way. They killed somebody in that way.
“I think there are some contractors that don’t have human feelings. In other cities, you can never disadvantage the public by working. We have to ask our engineers and directors to ensure that human feelings are respected while doing this work.
You can’t just treat people any other way. It’s not the amount, it’s not the amount of equipment you need to support. If you are doing work anyway, the first assignment is to ensure that the traffic is great," he maintained.
On the reorganisation in the ministry, he declared; "“Everybody is going to the field. Only the Permanent Secretary and I will remain in the office. Every director will supervise a major project, and performance will be judged strictly by output.'
The minister also praised contractors for keying into Mr. President's Renewed Hope Agenda policy on road construction which advocate a shift from asphalt to concrete road technology to improve durability.
“I commend you for agreeing to adapt to the new policy of Mr President on concrete road technology. Many of you even requested that your projects be changed from asphalt to concrete. That is not easy, but it is necessary," Umahi said.
According to him, the new policy is key since concrete roads offer longer life spans when properly constructed while asphalt roads often deteriorate within 10 to 15 years due to drainage failures and poor soil conditions.
On his part, the Minister of State for Works, Hon. Bello Muhammad Goronyo, commended the visionary leadership style of the minister that have shaped the ministry, making it more focus on delivery it's mandate for Nigerians.
He specifically instructed the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to focus on it's mandate on road maintenance, warning that he would not commission solar lights when the roads are deplorable and causing hardship on road users.
“For FERMA, I think we are now going in a new direction. Because we really need to work hard. We have to leave our home for good and address the needs and aspirations of Nigeria.
So, for FERMA, we are also going through a new dawn, a new era. Wherever we are going, we are going to be rough and rigorous for this and a much longer process.Time is not on our side.
'We cannot continue to stay in our home for good and issue instructions. We have to work with people. Nigerians are tired of excuses. And FERMA right now, they are supposed to help us out with the responsibility of maintaining the roads. It’s time to start working on the roads.
"We must describe the problems. We must create innovative solutions.We will show them. We have time for all of them. This time around, I will not go back to commissioning solar lights. I will not go back. I will continue to commission roads maintained by FERMA. Nigerians will be proud, will be happy, that Mr President is working. He will show that he is the best one," the Minister stressed.