Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has reiterated his commitment toward reducing infrastructural deficit in the state.
The State’s number one citizen stated this in Ibadan while flagging off the reconstruction of the 21-kilometre Airport – Ajia – New Ife express road.
The African Housing News gathered that the road project was awarded to an indigenous contractor, Messrs Peculiar Ultimate Concerns Ltd, at a cost of N8.5 billion.
It was also disclosed that the project is expected to be completed and delivered within 12 months.
While calling for more funds to tackle the infrastructural deficit in the country, Makinde said to boost economic growth, “we must strategise on how to increase our spending on infrastructure.”
“And this is how economies work; investors will only go where they can be assured of profits.
” If we do not develop basic infrastructure like roads, it will affect the cost of production, which in turn means less profit for investors.
“So, we cannot be seriously discussing attracting investment into Oyo State when majority of roads and other infrastructure are in a state of disrepair,” he said.
The governor also said his administration was deploying Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA) to tackle infrastructural deficit.
“APFA is our way of funding some infrastructural projects in the state by having the contractors fund the projects with their own money while the state repays them over a period of time.
“What this entails is that the contractor carries the projects’ risk; at the same time, we get quality delivery and quick completion of projects.
“And so for projects under the APFA, because of the nature of spending on the projects, we decided that it will be best to open up the bidding process a little more so that contractors outside of Oyo State can bid as well.
“We reached this decision because we are looking for private entities who have the wherewithal to complete the projects on schedule while at the same time passing the test of quality assurance,” he said.
