The important thing is not just building the roads. In the past, we have built roads.
By Ife Osemedua
365Daily – The Federal Government has announced plans to toll several key highways across the country, including the Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Makurdi Road, Abuja-Kano Road, Port Harcourt-Enugu Road, and the East-West Road.
Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known during a ministerial press briefing in Abuja on Friday.
He explained that the tolling initiative is driven by the government’s limited financial resources to construct and maintain federal roads.
“It is difficult for the funds of the federal government to complete all these roads. That’s why we are doing highway development and management initiative (HDMI). Of course, that is the Public Private Partnership (PPP).
“It’s not only to get these roads completed; we should also maintain them. And so, in the first week of June, we are going to go round and talk to stakeholders again and appeal to them to toll the roads,” Umahi said.
He emphasised the urgent need to preserve completed sections of major roads, using the Abuja-Kano and Port Harcourt-Enugu roads as examples.
“For example, you look at the Abuja-Kano Road, a sizeable section is completed, but if we leave it at that until we finish the rest of the project, they will all go bad. The Port Harcourt-Enugu, the same thing. The East-West Road, the same thing. That’s what informed the reason for tolling — not just to have the private sector to participate just like in every civilised country, but to also ensure that they operate and maintain the ones we have done,” he explained.
Umahi further stressed that the goal is not just building roads but ensuring their longevity through proper maintenance.
“The important thing is not just building the roads. In the past, we have built roads. This is the only time President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is constructing roads and the most worrying aspect in the Ministry of Works is that none of the roads built in the past ever lasted up to 15 years,” he added.