…Tasks FCT Minister On Apo-Karshi Road Project
ABUJA- A group of concerned road users, under the auspices of ‘The Road Users Development Network of Nigeria’, have rebuked the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola for deplorable conditions of the Abuja-Keffi Expressway.
The group, alleged that the Minister abandoning such an important Federal road is not only a betrayal of public confidence, but an offence to humanity, while adding that the Minister should fix it or resign immediately.
They, however, called on the Minister of the Federal Capital one Territory (FCT), Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello to expedite actions on the Apo-Karshi road project and save residents and other commuters the stress they go through.
Speaking on behalf of the group, the Director of Technical Operations, Engr. Gabriel Godwin, on Sunday noted that the bad spots on the AYA to Mararaba stretch of the Abuja-Keffi road, are not only causing untold hardship to commuters, but an embarrassment to the present administration.
He also lamented that a section of the road that can be traversed in twenty minutes during peak periods, now takes about two hours due to the bad state of the road.
He said that , the minister had over time paid very little attention to the existing carriageway of Road which has remained in very bad shape.
According to him ” if the Abuja-Keffi Expressway which is the closest federal road to the Aso rock presidential villa is in this sorry state then there is no hope for other federal roads across the country. The bad portions of this ever busy federal road is just five minutes drive from the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and yet it is in this sorry state. Over 55 percent of the staff in the presidential villa and 65 of the ministry of work and FERMA staff ply this road everyday to and from work”
” The minister should immediately fix this road or resign and return to Lagos state. Whenever it rains in the evening, the traffic from kugbo, close to karu Bridge extend to the police headquarters in heart of the city and the fire service entrance gate of the presidential villa. Yet the minister , his team of directors and aides donot seem to bother at all.”
” In front of Prince oil filling station, in Kugbo has led to several accidents, killing innocent Nigerians on daily basis. We contacted the headquarters of the Federal road maintenance agency and were told that the bad stretch of road from Abacha Barracks to FCT boundary with Nasarawa State is no longer under their schedule because the road is under expansion. A senior officer at FERMA’s office in wuse 2 told us that it is Duty of the contractor handling the expansion work to fix the potholes but the highways department of the works and Housing ministry is not doing its job”, he stated.
On Apo-Karshi road, Godwin called on the FCT minister Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello to ensure prompt completion of the Apo-Karshi road noting that all promises made to complete works on the road at various times have not been kept by past and present FCT administrations.
“from what we saw during our visit to the Apo-karshi road recently not much is going on there. Out of the about 6 bulldozers meant to reduce the problematic hill only one is functional. We strongly doubt capability of the contractor to deliver that road anytime soon. The FCT administration should quickly return to the drawing board, tell itself honest truths about the Apo-Karshi road and take the expected decision, to ease traffic conjection along AYA-Nyanya- Mararaba road”.
He called on FCT Administration to fix the numerous potholes and bad spots on the Nyanya-Karshi.
Source: Independent
