The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to equal attention on road construction across the country.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH),Alhaji Babangida Hussaini, said this on Wednesday in Niger at routine inspection of the reconstruction of Lambata-Bida road.
Hussaini was represented by Mr Funso Adebiyi, Director, Highway Construction and Rehabilitation, FMWH
He dismissed the insinuation that more money was spent on roads in the north than in the south, the official said the cost of construction of a road was determined by many factors.
“One, the level of deterioration before the intervention, two, the soil texture of that area, the water table, again the nearness to the borrowed materials you want to use in haulage also the cost of haulage.
“The soil texture in that area how much of contextabillity you require some will require stabilisation all these have cost implications in different proportions.
“So the cost of constructing a one kilometer road in Bayelsa could be used to do up to 50km in Katsina.
“Because when you look at it critically the thickness of your stabilisation could go as deep as one point something metres and you start building from there,” he said.
He said that another factor that affects the cost of road construction was what you are designing for, how busy the place would be and the kind of traffic anticipated.
“So, when you build a 10km road in Katsina you may not be able to build more than one in Bayelsa or Rivers depending on the terrain.
“So, the insinuation that government is spending more money in the North than in the south is not true.
“Sukuk for instance is shared equally among the states , so the amount provided for South West is the same given to North West.
“Government is not biased don’t forget that some of us are from these parts so we cannot sit down and allow our own regions to be short changed,” Hussaini said.
The News Agency of Nigeria’ (NAN) reports that the inspection of the road is a routine inspection to assess the quality assurance of the road and ensure good service delivery by the contractors.
The Lanbata -Bida road is 124.81km length from Lanbata town on dualised Suleja -Minna road. The road passes through Lapai-Agaie and terminated at Bida.
“It is a section where trailers were falling on top of each other so government saw the need that it was critical to reconstruct the road.
“It is 20 percent done and would be completed in 48months,”Husseini said.
The road is a component part of the Lagos to Abuja Federal Highways traversing through Oyo, Keara and Niger, commenced on May 21 , 2018 at the cost of N33.31trillion. (NAN)
