The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has warned that the era of diverting funds meant for federal roads to complete community roads is over.
Fashola attributed the neglect of several federal roads across states in the country to the diversion of funds meant to complete such roads by some parties.
The minister noted that some of the funds provided for interstate federal roads were diverted to build community roads he described as “spurs,” while neglecting the interstate roads.
The minister, who cited the Imo State situation as example, recalled, “What we noticed was that in the past, funds that were, perhaps, meant to build interstate roads, because that is our work, had been diverted to building intercommunity roads.
“We saw on our records, Owerri Umuahia Road under construction. But the truth is that no work is going on there; the work is going on in roads that lead to villages.”
The minister pointed out that the diverted funds would have been better used in building the Owerri Umuahia Road that connects two big economies, and that probably would have connected them to Akwa Ibom and to Enugu states to facilitate more trade.
“The villages to which those roads were being built, what is the business there? There was only one person making coffin. But the main roads which would enhance commercial activities were not getting attention,” he said, adding that even while those funds were being employed in doing community roads, the records being presented to the Federal Government were that interstate roads were being constructed.
Meanwhile, Fashola has revealed that the government’s strategy of rebooting the economy, through infrastructure development across the country, has started yielding results.
He added that injecting money into the economy, by paying contractors, who have not been paid for three years and who can now pay their workers, refinance their bank loans, and pay their suppliers, have had positive multiplier effects now gradually manifesting.
Such positive effects include improving the ease of doing business by reducing travel time on completed road sections, making uncompleted sections temporarily more motorable, reducing the cost of travel and movement of supplies, including food and farm produces, thus restoring production and ultimately growth to the economy. He said, “Our government is blind to party when it comes to development.
Every state of this federation is part of the constituency of the Federal Government, and we have the President’s mandate to partner and not to compete with the states.
“There is no part of the country that the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing is not doing one thing or the other.”
He added that the mandate of the President was being executed nationwide through the Federal Controllers of Works in the states, whom he described as ambassadors of the Federal Government.
The Minister, however, appealed to the Commissioners of Works in the states to provide support for and sustain the collaboration by providing access to and partnership with the Federal Controllers in their states, whom, according to him, have been directed to make themselves available to support the states.
