PROPERTY NEWS

Chairman of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Governing Board, Mr. Abdulkhadir Kure, has warned all contractors executing FERMA’s ongoing road maintenance projects nationwide to redouble their efforts to achieve set targets or be prepared to have their contracts terminated.

Kure, an engineer, issued the warning last week through Ike Ndeokwelu, a member of the board, who led eight other members on a three-day inspection of the agency’s maintenance projects in Niger and Kaduna states.

According to him, the current board is very focused on creating an enabling policy environment to enable the agency deliver on its mandate of making all federal roads motorable all year round.

He pointed out, that being a major driver of economic development as captured in government’s 7-point Agenda and Vision 20:2020 policies, the agency is determined to ensure that maintenance works were executed according to the stipulated standards and specifications.

He said that it was the board’s responsibility to see to it that all concerned rise to their responsibilities, hence the need for members to see things for themselves through project inspections. He added that the board would ensure that resources made available to the agency were used judiciously.

He noted that the dry season was the best period for construction work, adding that government’s goodwill to enable the agency deliver good roads is not wasted due to non-performance by contractors.

Kure charged the contractors to redouble efforts for early completion of ongoing projects so that funds appropriated for road maintenance do not lapse while the roads remain bad.

He said the board and management have put all machinery in place to ensure that all certificates sent in are paid within a week, adding that delayed payment is no longer an excuse for non-performance by contractors.

He said hardworking contractors will be assisted to meet set targets and specifications, but warned that the agency would not hesitate to terminate any contract that is found to be lagging behind.

The chairman commended the Federal Road Maintenance Engineers (FRMEs) and other technical staff in the two states for the quality of direct labour works carried out in difficult circumstances. He urged staff in other states to prove their mettle through good quality direct labour works as well as supervision of contractors.

Among the roads inspected were Mokwa - Tegina road, Makera - Kontagora road, Suleja - Agaiye - Bida - Mokwa road, Birnin Gwari - Funtua road, the fire-damaged bridge at Zaria along the Kaduna - Zaria - Kano road, Kaduna - Abuja road and the Kaduna Western by-pass executed by direct labour.