The federal government says it has set aside N97.2 billion as a special intervention to be used in the repair of 156 damaged portions of federal roads and bridges damaged by flooding across the country.
In a press briefing titled, “State of Roads During Ember Months,” the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said that incidences of severe flooding in most states had an adverse effect on the nation’s road network which resulted in the need for special intervention.
He said that the interventions aligned with the ministry’s policy of ensuring that federal roads were motorable after every rainy season and that roads damaged due to severe flooding were made motorable.
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While giving the breakdown, Fashola revealed that N17.1bn was budgeted for 24 roads in North-Central; N10.8bn was earmarked for 22 roads in the North-East; N5.8bn for 11 roads in the North-West; N7.76 bn for eight roads in the South-East; and N33.7bn for 30 federal roads in the South-South.
Other interventions according to the minister include N13 billion for the restoration of 38 bridges and N8.78 billion for the restoration of 23 highways in the South-West.
He mentioned that the 2022 Appropriation Act would include an omnibus clause that would allocate money for special intervention programs and erosion control.
Story was adapted from Punch.
