Henry Umoru
4 December 2008
THE Federal Government said yesterday that if the nation's over 34,000 kilometre Federal roads must be recovered from their present sorry state, a total of N260 billion would be required.
According to the government in its analysis, a minimum of N110 billion is expected to be expended for a period of five to six years continually for rehabilitation while about five million vehicles on Nigerian roads would require N90, 000 each on maintenance due to the effects of bad roads.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja yesterday, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, (FERMA), Mr Olubunmi Peters explained that when N90, 000 is multiplied by about 5 million vehicles that ply the Nigerian roads, it would sum up to a staggering sum of N450billion waste to the economy annually, adding that the loss is exclusive of the human lives and property that are lost due to accidents on bad roads.
The FERMA boss called for the introduction of fuel levy as a source of revenue to make up the N260 billion said although FERMA Act provides that 5 per cent based on N70 fuel levy will amount to N55 billion, but it cannot be enough to improve the road condition, just as he suggested what he described as internal vehicle transact charge which is operational in most African countries.
According to him, the system when operational would bring an additional N7 billion to N10 billion, adding that tolling is another way of sourcing for fund in the maintenance of roads.
The FERMA who explained the reasons for the dismantling of tollgates by former President Olusegun Obasanjo, said in 2003, out of the 31 tollgates across the country, only N950 million was collected, even as he disagreed with the cancellation of toll gates across the country, adding that scrapping them amounted to throwing a baby with the bath water.
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