Minister seeks alternative funding for FERMA to fix Nigeria roads
By Ahmed Tahir Ajobe
The minister of state for works, Bello Goronyo has advocated for alternative sources of funding for the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to enable it fix deplorable Nigeria roads.
He said the move has become necessary as the yearly federal government budget to the Agency fell short of what is required for it to efficiently maintain Nigerian roads.
The minister spoke while inspecting the Lafia- Shendam Plateau State border road maintenance works executed by Monicat Global Services Ltd, through FERMA.
NEXTER reports that the Lafia-Shendam Road which connects Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi states has been in deplorable condition until the current intervention which is making it motorable.
“I have been saying it time without number that there is no way you can manage FERMA under the budget because the infrastructural deficit is too high, we are managing over 36,000 km of roads and some of these roads were constructed over 40 years ago and has never received attention in the past.
Mr. Goronyo said with additional funding FERMA could change the faces and fortune of Nigerians roads and enhance socioeconomic status of the citizens.
According to him, such funding could come through donations from organisations and even countries as the case with Japan which is donating equipment to FERMA to enable it perform its statutory responsibility.
The minister said another option is for the Agency to lease out its equipment which are lying fallow to states and local government areas to enable further fund its activities.
“We are trying to do more and we are looking at other sources of funding like donations coming from organizations and other countries like Japan which is donating equipment.
“We are trying to flop an SPV where our equipment that are laying fallow can also be used by sub national and even the local government so that they can be hired and use at sub national level in order to generate more money to also fund the activities of FERMA as well look at the issue of way bridges sourcing funds through tolling our major roads, these are other resources of revenue that we can get some funding to actually put forward to ensure that FERMA manage our roads” he said
He praised the Agency for its many interventions on Nigerian roads despite merger resources at come its way as federal allocation.
“We have seen the intervention put forward by FERMA on this road and you can now see that the road is motorable, people are happy, before now the road was very bad and there was a lot of complains that the road was not motorable, so we have seen the level of work and we are satisfied that the contractor has done a good job,” he stated.
He urged Nigerians to take ownership of federal roads in their respective areas by ensuring that they protect same against those who would deliberately cause havoc to them.
“We have already launch operation safeguard our roads and the essence is to maintain our critical infrastructure, that is road, there is no point putting barricade and people should observe speed limit” he said.
Earlier, the Managing Director of FERMA, Chukwuemeka Agbasi said the commitment is to put the road into a maintenance regime to ensure it does not deteriorate again
“Once we have a proactive maintenance of this road, we derive more value from it and road users will enjoy it” he said
