The federal government will welcome more public private investments in infrastructure development, an official of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing (FMWH), Engr. Folorunsho Esan, has said.
Esan, who is the Director, Highway Construction and Rehabilitation in the ministry, spoke over the weekend in Kaduna during a two-day inspection of rehabilitation of 64.600 kilometre Zaria-Gusau-Sokoto-Birnin-Kebbi road, Funtua-Zaria Section.
According to him, more private people were getting involved in the provision of infrastructure, adding that: “This is a NNPC financed contract; it’s under the NNPC tax credit scheme’’.
He said: “Everyday, we are having private people coming in; we have several applications waiting with us and we are going to have more private sector involvement as time goes on’’.
Expressing satisfaction with the quality and pace of the project, the director said the contractor was working according to planned specifications.
On questions about the activities of trucks and tanker drivers which might cause quick damage on the road, Esan said the Zaria-Funtua road had minimal rate of heavy vehicles parking at the road shoulders.
He, however, said where they had challenges with heavy vehicles, including tankers and trucks, the ministry had involved the state governments and the associations of trucks and tanker owners.
On his part, the Director, Highway North-West, Mr Adebayo Taiwo, described the Zaria-Funtua road project as impressive.
He said the contractors had to work hard, considering their full mobilisation, to meet up the target.
He stated that after completion
of the road, it would be handed over to the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to ensure it remained in good condition.
Also, the Project Engineer of the Zaria-Funtua road, Mr Wajdi El’ejel, assured that they would finish the project on time.
One of the residents of Giwa Local Government Area, Mr Sule Bala, said the road, before the construction, was in a terrible state.
He said motorists usually spent about three hours from Giwa to Funtua, which was usually a journey of not more than 30 minutes.
He thanked the Federal Government for the road construction and prayed that Nigeria would overcome its numerous challenges, especially those bordering on insecurity.