Mr Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing (FMWH), has tasked major stakeholders and housing controllers to ensure the repair of major arterial roads in the country in view of the upcoming Yuletide.
Mr Stephen Kilebi, Deputy Director of Press, FMWH in a statement he signed and released to newsmen on Friday said Fashola gave this charge during a meeting with the stakeholders in Abuja.
The meeting was aimed at reviewing the state of all ongoing reconstruction work on the major arterial roads, planning and strategising on how to facilitate ease of movement during the season.
The minister said the meeting was necessary because of the characteristic increase of vehicular movements, more people travelling and increased activities of both importers and exporters on major roads.
He explained that it was the responsibility of the ministry to ensure that everything was done and put in place in order to facilitate easy and smooth movement of travellers during the season.
Fashola enjoined the road safety Corp Marshall to intensify campaigns on speeding and unlicensed drivers on the highways in order to reduce avoidable accidents on the roads.
He also directed the ministry’s Director of Highways Control and Roads Maintenance to list out all key areas needing urgent attention and send to the Controllers for action.
Mr Boboye Oyeyemi, Corp Marshall, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) updated the meeting about the arrangement put in place by the agency to ease movements during the season.
Representatives of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Federal Controllers of Works and Contractors on some defined ongoing roads projects across the zones also attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, in a separate meeting with the Housing Sector Controllers, the minister charged them to be more committed and productive to ensure all ongoing housing projects were completed by 2020.
Fashola said they would only be appraised by completed work adding that they should work more to facilitate the job of the contractors to deliver by removing obstacles that would hinder the process.
He reminded them of the value addition and multiplier effects of any project on the people of each community.
“Thousands of people in the beneficiary communities would be taken out of poverty because they are engaged as labourers, artisans and what have you,’’ he said.
