LAGOS— WORKS Minister, Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe, has attributed the current lull in the rehabilitation of the Onitsha-Owerri road to the rainy season. He said, in an interview in Lagos, weekend, that the contractors who had already been mobilised to the tune of N6 billion said they had to suspend work because of the rain. He promised that once the rain was over, the rehabilitation would resume.
He said the performance of his ministry depended on the allocation approved by the National Assembly, saying: “I don’t allocate funds. I work based on what the National Assembly allocates to the ministry. This year they approved N60 billion and we decided to give N10 billion to each geo-political zone. I have told the South-East federal legislators not to spread their share to too many projects. The South-East now has an opportunity to sit down and plan on how to utilise its own share to improve its road network.”
On the confrontation between officials of the Federal Ministry of Works (FERMA) and those of Lagos State Transport Management Authority (LASTMA) on Lagos roads, he said personnel of the two organisations were not supposed to be on the roads.
His words: “The problem between FERMA and LASTMA is giving me concern. The truth is that neither of them is supposed to be on the roads. That is the responsibility of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) and traffic wardens. As far as I know, FERMA has not recruited anyone to be on the roads other than rehabilitating the roads.”
He also said he was not against the fourth bridge proposed by the Lagos State government or the creation of new local governments in the state. According to him, if the state government is serious about the fourth bridge, it should act fast. “It does not take four years to know the consultants, the designers and the concepts of the bridge. I know this because I was involved in the construction of the Third Mainland Bridge, and I’m currently involved in the construction of four. bridges in different parts of the country. I’m not saying they (Lagos State government) should start construction today, but they should let the public know the concept,” he said.
And on new local government areas in the state, Chief Ogunlewe said: “I’m totally in support of new councils. That was why I voted during the exercise for more local governments. But the state government was wrong to have abolished the local governments recognised by and listed in the constitution.”
