OPINION: Is FERMA Working?

Efforts of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency FERMA, to make Nigerian roads accessible, may have started paying off. This is because power turbines are now being transported by roads, a situation the Managing Director of FERMA, Gabriel Amuchi, an Engineer said was achieved because Nigerian roads have become motorable.

Amuchi made the claims at the Kudenda Industrial District, Kaduna, during the delivery of the last batch of power turbines, generators and sundry equipment meant for the 215 megawatts National Independent Power Project NIPP. The turbines were transported to Kaduna from Onne Port in River State by road, a distance of about 950 kilometres. .

He said Government was clear in its resolve to transport the equipment by road over the long distance. . To give fillip to that policy, he said the Vice President, Arc. Namadi Sambo, who is supervising the NIPP, constituted a steering committee with FERMA given clear instructions to fix the entire road stretch from Onne Port to Kaduna with the bridges and other support structures to facilitate the smooth movement of the power equipment.

He stated that Government in its wisdom, reasoned that by repairing the entire road stretch from Port Harcourt to Kaduna, will not only make the movement of the power equipment possible but the benefits will affect other sectors of the economy.

“FERMA would no longer allow roads to get to the point of disrepair before the potholes are fixed. We will direct scores of engineers in the agency to use their expertise to work harder,” he said.

The FERMA boss, who said the Federal Government was aware of the efforts of some state governments to maintain some federal roads in their domains, advised that the maintenance must meet the specifications necessary approvals set out for such roads before the governors of the states ask for refund of resources expended on the roads.

“The government will no longer allow vital infrastructure to decay. We do not want to leave the agency worse than we met it. This is our duty. We are competently trained. We do recovery, repair and maintenance. The Minister of Works has met with the Governors and has given them guidelines for roads maintenance. I am sure if those guidelines are carried out, the better our roads will be”, Amuchi said.

According to him, equipment and manpower have been provided by the agency and surveillance of roads is being carried out with the aim of identifying areas that need urgent attention. Such areas will be fixed without waiting for worse situations.

Amuchi expressed delight with the inspection carried out by his agency on Onitsha-Lagos Road. He noted that there is a remarkable improvement on the maintenance of the roads.

On road accidents, the FERMA boss directed senior officials of the department to liaise with the Federal Roads Safety Commission, FRSC and necessary government agencies to ensure prompt evacuation, adding that heavy unserviceable trucks and tankers should not be allowed to park on the roads because they attract stagnant water that weaken shoulders of the roads.

While acknowledging the contributions of other agencies and services that worked with FERMA and the Federal Ministry of Works on the committee, Amuchi said the experience was a perfect example of how inter and intra-agency collaboration of government bodies can help implement policies meant to improve the lot of Nigerians. He also said FERMA monitored the route throughout the duration of the movement to ensure that new distresses on the road were addressed.

The representative of the Minister of Power, Yusuf Fwamkat, also an Engineer, commended the contractors handling the independent power project, Messrs. Rockson Engineering Limited and FERMA for making it possible to achieve the enormous task of moving the heavy equipment on road. He also appreciated the contributions of the Police, Road Safety Commission, Power Holding Company of Nigeria and other agencies who provided security and other ancillary services while the goods were on transit.

He said the movement of the equipment took a cumulative period of 43 days over five return trips from Port Harcourt to Kaduna.

Source: Vanguard