Reps may probe World Bank assisted road projects

There are indications that the House of Representatives may beam its searchlight on some major road projects funded by World Bank and other development agencies.

Abuja City Business gathered that most of the federal roads implemented under the last administration was unilaterally embarked on without recourse to the Legislature.

One of the members of the House Committee on Works, who spoke on the development, however stressed the need for the eight Assembly to check the abuses in the implementation of road related projects under the present administration.

“On the World Bank intervention fund, it’s something they used to hide from our purview and the ministers and their directors do their own thing, so we have to be like a beggar.

“They often get $700 million, $300 million to roads that are not essential to the country. I think we have to put this in the centre. A lot of money is coming under that but there is no transparency.”

The lawmaker, who was also a member of the House Committee during the seventh Assembly, emphasised the need for Federal Government to embark on reclassification of Nigerian roads, with the view to prioritise funding base on their peculiarities, such as: mineral producing roads, rural-settlement roads among others.

“Each one has peculiar responsibility and approach and I think if we segment them properly, we will be able to apply our technology and fund for them.

“Going forward, the Legislature is also canvassing for the implementation of the public private partnership which we must also work on and concession of such classified roads.

“The issue of local content in the construction industry is another big issue known to everybody because of the backwardness of our road infrastructure development in Nigeria. Not only that, we have the issue of material technology and manpower as well as political issue.

Critical appraisal of Nigerian building roads research institute, the institute during former Head of State, Ibrahim Babangida developed various finishing of categories of roads and their costing.

“Several countries in the East Africa, Southern Africa and Northern Africa have adopted most of the findings of the institute and making success of it but here we just leave them in our laboratory,” the lawmaker noted.