FERMA SAYS CAPACITY EXPANSION, INCREASED MAINTENANCE NEEDED TO IMPROVE ROADS ROADS
By Folasade Akpan
Abuja, June 18, 2021 (NAN)
Mr Nurudeen Rafindadi, Managing Director, Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), says capacity expansion and increased maintenance are needed to improve the state of the roads in Nigeria.
Rafindadi said this in Abuja, at the second quarter meeting of Public Private Partnership Unit Consultative Forum (3PUCF) organised by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
Represented by Mr. Emeka Agbasi, Head, PPP, Multilateral and Special Duties at FERMA, Rafindadi said that Nigeria’s national road network of 200,000 km had not seen any significant addition to the road length in the last 30 years.
According to him, road transportation accounted for about 95 per cent of movements in Nigeria, which underscores the importance of keeping the roads serviceable all year round.
He added that PPP opportunities were available for potential investors as was being demonstrated in the ongoing Highways Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).
“FERMA is a statutory road agency that operates within the infrastructure space and has the mandate to maximise the utility and capacity of road assets through effective and efficient maintenance.
“However, funding has been the major challenge to the agency’s operations which is primarily through fiscal appropriations from the Federal Government.
“The PPP is one viable funding model available to the agency, as its establishment Act allows for road concessions and other channels of funding for road maintenance activities, Rafindadi said.
Speaking, the Acting Director-General, ICRC, Mr Mike Ohiani, reiterated the commission’s stance to have all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) with PPP arrangements not in ICRC custody to regularise their documents commission.
He recalled that the commission had in 2020 issued a regulator notice requesting MDAs to comply with the request.
The regularisation is expected to help harmonise all PPP programmes of the Federal Government.
The 3PUCF forum was initiated by the ICRC to provide a stakeholder engagement platform that would enhance knowledge and experience sharing among key PPP personnel in MDAs.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that ICRC was established to regulate PPP activities in Nigeria to address physical infrastructure deficit which hampers economic development. (NAN)
