FG moves to complete N2trn uncompleted roads

Federal Government on Tuesday rolled out a three-year work plan for the completion of major economic road projects across the country.

So far, over 200 federal roads worth over N2 trillion were awarded by the previous administration, but yet to be completed.

Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing, who gave the information during the 2015/2016 budget defence before the Joint Committee on Power, Works and Housing chaired by Toby Okechukwu, disclosed that the Federal Government was owing contractors over N1 trillion for the execution of road projects, just as he lamented the spate of abandoned projects across the country.

According to Fashola, from the total sum of N433 billion proposed for the three critical sectors in the 2016 budget, the sum of N208 billion is for roads, N99 billion for power while N66 billion for housing.

The minister also disclosed the ministry’s three-year 2016 – 2018 work plan of over 6,000 kilometres of road to be executed, unveiling the present administration’s plan to construct economic roads that would link up various states and regions across the country.

Some of the priority road projects include: Sokoto-Kantagora-Makera Road, Katsina-Kano-Maidugari Road, Hadeja-Nguru-Gashua Road, Ilorin-Jebba-Makowa, Lagos-Ibadan road, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Calabar-Adokpani-Ikot road, and Ajibandele-Sagamu road.

However, the committee queried why N50 billion allocated to the Lagos-Ibadan road alone.

While expressing concern over the state of the nation’s economy, Fashola stressed the need for government to “start spending” in order to revamp the economy and address the high rate of unemployment caused by inactivity on major construction sites.

He explained that the concession agreement entered into by the Federal Government and Bi-Courtney Limited was problematic, adding that two court orders procured against the company were the major reasons work on the road was stalling.

He said: “The brief I have received was first, there was documented advice to government, that they should have never issued that concession in the first place. But government went ahead to issue and this perhaps explains the inability to perform.

“So many other things happened, like a change of government. But the last administration took the view that they wanted out of the concession and the company then went to court seeking to be compensated in damages and that the concession be restored.

“While that was going on government again set up a finance, corporate and management agreement, and that’s where motorways came in. Some monies were raised initially by Motorways to fund the existing contractors – RCC and Julius Berger. Again, Bi-Courtney instituted a suit in court and got an order stopping any of the existing lenders who are under the Motorways contract or indeed anybody at all, from raising money to fund the project.

“So, as things stand the project has stopped as the two contractors cannot be financed. They are being owed and the briefings they gave when I met with them in December, they said they have laid off 2000 workers and just keeping some skeletal presence there,” Fashola said.

While reacting to the presentation, Toby Okechukwu, chairman, House Committee on Works, stressed the need for alternative sources of funding for the road projects.

KEHINDE AKINTOLA