Edo advocates creation of special fund for road construction, maintenance

Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki has advocated for the creation of a special fund for the construction and maintenance of some key federal roads across the country.
Obaseki made the called when he played host to Senate committee on works led by its vice chairman, Clifford Ordia, a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) member, representative Edo Central Senatorial District.
The governor said the call became necessary since waterways and railways were yet to be fully developed by the government, noting that the fixing of the integral roads would reduce tension in the country.
While decrying the late passage of the 2017 Federal Government budget by the National Assembly, he noted that the delay was destructive to the economy.
According to Obaseki, it was unfair for a state like Edo to pass its budget in December only to wait for another six months to begin implementation of the budget because of the delay in passing the national budget.
“You need to earmarked certain fund, dedicated resources for some key federal roads and keep the roads open. Our rails and waterways are not developed and such good road maintenance will affect our economic growth,” he said.
He further posited that he once told the Federal Comptroller of works not to return to Benin City if contractors were not mobilised to commence works on the failed section of the Benin-Lokoja highway at Ekpoma.
He said the failed sections of the Benin-Lokoja highway paralysed economy of the state, as heavy traffic diverted through Ekpoma township destroyed the internal roads network.
The governor however promised to have quarterly engagements with federal lawmakers in the state on possible ways to support activities in the state.
Earlier, Clifford Ordia told the governor that they were in the state to carry out special physical assessments of the dualisation of the Lokoja-Benin highway.
Ordia, who informed the governor that contractor handling the Ekpoma axis of the Lokoja-Benin dual carriageway had resumed work, however disclosed that level of work on the road was slow because of paucity of funds.
 

IDRIS UMAR MOMOH, BENIN