By Dwelleth Morountodun
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has disclosed that the first set of weigh bridges will be rolled out across the country soon.
The aim of the installation according to him, is to protect Nigerian roads by guarding against excess cargo weights.
The Minister made this disclosure when he received the Board members of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), led by its Chairman, Mr. Babatunde Lemo, in his office.
While acknowledging FERMA’s mandate to maintain roads, the minister urged them to pay more attention to the protection of road while carrying out the maintenance.
He warned road users against willful damage of roads through overloading. He also said that once the weigh bridges were in place, excess loads would be surcharged.
He noted that the country was at the peak of the raining season where the roads were prone to damages, explaining that, the consequences of bad weather were harmful to every country’s infrastructure.
He assured that government was aware of these challenges and responding to them, even though the rains have slowed down activities in the construction sector generally.
Fashola urged FERMA to collaborate more with the federal controllers of works in the state to improve the quality of the roads, he also promised to empower the Controllers to take ownership and full responsibility of the ministry’s strategy of road protection to secure lives and properties, adding that FERMA should leverage on the wealth of experience of these controllers in road repairs and maintenance.
In a remark, Lemo, requested the ministry to factor in the agency’s role in road investments, stressing the need for the ministry’s continuous support in ensuring adequate appropriations and budget releases from time to time.