Leadership (Abuja)
Kuni Tyessi
7 November 2009
Abuja — The chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Julius Ucha, has stated that the upper legislative chamber of the National Assembly will work with the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to ensure that all federal roads in the country are properly maintained.
Senator Ucha made the disclosure when he led a delegation of the nine-member Senate Committee on Works on an oversight visit to the agency's Wuse 2, Abuja headquarters. He said the visit was the first step in the discharge of the committee's responsibility of ensuring that the objectives set out in the current appropriation act are realised through strict implementation of the budget.In his response to the chairman's speech, the managing director/CEO, Engr. Kabir Abdullahi, said he feels confident and strengthened by the visit of the committee. According to him, the members had garnered considerable experience from overseeing the roads sector for quite some time.
He said, being less than three months in office, he and his management team would benefit from the committee's wealth of experience, as he strives to re-position the agency to achieve the mandate for which it was set up.Engr. Abdullahi said the agency has since swung into action by awarding 78 contracts for special repairs and maintenance of major federal roads in its 2009/2010 massive federal road maintenance programme, after due clearance and approval by the Bureau of Public Procurement. The managing director called for the collaboration of members of the committee in monitoring the projects to ensure that the contractors do good jobs and also get value for the money.
He also said the contractors selected were prequalified and screened to ensure that they have the capacity to execute the projects. According to him, they were adequately briefed and given the maintenance specifications, while also directing them to adhere strictly to the standards. He further said instructions have been given to zonal directors to report any contractor who fails to report to site after 4 weeks.Engr. Abdullahi equally solicited the assistance of the committee in canvassing for better funding for the agency's operations against its enormous responsibility of maintaining all the 34, 200 kilometres of federal roads. He also requested the committee's assistance in ensuring that appropriated funds are allowed to be used between the months of December and May of the following year, which is the best period for construction, instead of being mopped up by the accountant general's office, in line with extant financial regulations.
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