Works Ministry Opposes Bill On Road Maintenance
by Millicent Okeke
The Federal Ministry of Works recently in Abuja opposed a bill for an Act for construction companies to construct, build and maintain road projects for five years before handing over.
The bill seeks to make it mandatory for construction companies to construct, build and maintain roads and erosion projects for five years, before handing over to government.
Mr. Sanusi Daggash, Minister of Works, however, opposed it at a public hearing organised by the Joint House of Representatives Committee on Works and Public procurement.
He said that the revised Federal Highways Act, cap 135 of 1971, regulated the practice of road planning, construction and maintenance in Nigeria.
``The overall intention of the bill has already been taken care of by the existing Federal Highways Act.
``There is already an agency, FERMA, charged with the maintenance of roads after construction; the bill may upset the functions of the organisation,'' he said.
He noted that there was already in existence mandatory one year maintenance period for all contractors engaged in road construction business with government in the country.
Daggash said that extending the maintenance period to five years as stated in the proposed bill, would drastically increase the cost of construction and maintenance by contractors without commensurate value.
``The five-year maintenance period has serious financial implication because the cost of post-construction maintenance will be built into rates during tender.
`` It will also mean that project costs will go up astronomically with the result that government may not be able to carry out much road project.
``There is therefore no need for such an Act because apart from simply amounting to duplication of already existing Act, it will add no value to status quo,''he said.
He stressed the need to address the issue of road maintenance logically, with the urgent implementation of road reforms by creating the Federal Roads Authority (FRA), Road Fund (RF) and National Roads Board (NRB).
According to him, Nigeria as a country is under investing in infrastructure instead of assets, saying that the ministry is strategising within the limit of available resources.
He solicited for adequate provision of fund for the ministry to effectively carry out its mandate.
Speaker Dimeji Bankole who was represented by the Deputy Speaker, Usman Nafada, blamed government officials who connived with contractors for doing shoddy road construction jobs.
He said that the Committee on Works had been mandated to work in collaboration with the ministry of works to improve the state of Nigerian roads.
Bankole who read the riot act to foreign contractors, said that it was a criminal offence for them to construct sub-standard roads in Nigeria, as against the ones in their various countries.
Mr. Michael Hacenberg, General Manager of SETRACO Nig. Plc, who debunked the allegation, said no contractor would maintain Nigerian roads given the low standard associated with their design.
He said that the standard practice globally was that the construction companies would construct and handover to government to take care of maintenance.
Mr. Nebolisa Enmordi, who represented the Bureau of Public Procurement, said construction of roads should be followed with maintenance programme during hand over.
But Mr. Olumumuyiwa Ajibola, who represented the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), blamed BPP for not selecting competent contractors during tender for the jobs.
He noted that lack of adequate supervision by government officials was responsible for the deplorable state of Nigerian roads.
| Primate Wants All Sexual Pervasions Condemned |
The Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, has reiterated its condemnation of same sex marriage, paedophilia and all sexual pervasions.
The Primate of the church, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, said such acts should be roundly condemned by all who accepted the authority of the scripture over human life.
Okoh told a news conference in Abuja recently that the silence by Canterbury over such lifestyle was detrimental to public well-being.
``The issue of human sexuality is not an Anglican prerogative and it is by no means limited to the Anglican circle as it has clearly shown all over the world,'' he said.
Okoh admitted that certain churches had broken the moratorium by Canterbury in areas like ordination of gay bishops and same sex marriage.
``The step taken by the Canterbury in this regard, therefore, is ill-advised and does not make any contribution toward healing of the ailment in the Anglican extended family,'' he said.
Okoh said the main trust of the Church of Nigeria remained the evangelisation of the people.
``By evangelism, we mean spreading the faith through effective teaching and discipline to reduce the yawning gap between profession of faith and morality.
``It also includes getting involved in the work of mission by providing some amenities and support to individuals and rural communities to reduce poverty and complement the efforts of the government,'' he said.
While congratulating the newly-elected President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the primate said the interest of Christians and their cherished way of life should be protected.
He, however, tasked leaders of the various denominations to speak out against the invading army of homosexuality, lesbianism and bisexual lifestyle. |
