NAN-H-33
Road
By Kate Obande-Okewu
Abuja, June 13, 2017(NAN) Mr Felix Atume, former Registrar, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), has called on the Federal Government to source alternative funds for road maintenance in the country.
Atume, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Abuja, said that allocation from the budget for roads was not enough.
He noted that money could be generated from road users through increase in fuel price and construction of toll gates.
“There is not enough money in the annual budgetary allocation to maintain roads and the network of roads have become so bad that they request a lot of money to maintain.
“If you don’t buy fuel you don’t destroy the road, if you don’t buy fuel you don’t travel and so if we contribute a little amount of money and this money is properly utilised then the road will be fixed for us to enjoy,” Atume said.
On toll collection on roads to generate fund for road maintenance, he said not all roads in Nigeria could be used as they did not all have traffic.
Atume mentioned Abuja-Kaduna road, Sagamu-Benin and Lagos-Ibadan roads as roads that could be used to generate funds through tolls.
He said if road tolls were not collected, the private sector would not be attracted to invest in road maintenance.
Atume said that the Road Fund Bill in the National Assembly allowed for the establishment of a Road Fund Board that would manage the money generated from other sources.
According to him, the Road Fund Board is the key to road maintenance in the country. (NAN)
KTE/ORO/AFA
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Edited by Razak Owolabi/Felix Ajide