By Ayodele Oni
In a swift action, Edo state House of Assembly has approved the sum of N1.5B loan facility for maintenance and rehabilitation of internal roads in the state.
This followed a letter from Governor Godwin Obaseki, which sought the approval of the parliament for an internal loan.
It was widely reported that Governor Obaseki and his entourage got stuck on Saturday while driving along Benin/Sapele highway, during a downpour.
Speaker, of the Assembly, Blessing Sheriff Agbebaku also summoned the Controller, Federal Ministry of Works to the hallowed Chambers next week Tuesday.
The Speaker gave the summons during the plenary over the refusal of the controller of works to appear with the director of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency, who was present.
During plenary, Agbebaku led other members to question the Director, Federal Road Maintenance Agency, Engr Muktar Ibrahim on the condition of Federal Roads in the state including the Benin- Auchi Road, Benin- ore road, specifically the ovia River Bridge; as well as other deplorable Federal Roads in the State.
Responding to the questions by the Lawmakers, the director, Engr Ibrahim disclosed that in the state, there are 19 Federal roads spanning 1,265 kilometers, while five of these roads are under rehabilitation; these Include Benin-Warri Road, Benin-Auchi Road, Auchi -Igarra-Ibillo Road, Ewu – Uromi Road and Illushi- Uromi Road.
Engr Ibrahim also disclosed that FERMA, as an agency only deals with rehabilitation of roads and not construction, stressing that it is the duty of Federal Ministry of works to undertake construction.
He explained that the remaining 13 roads are maintained by FERMA, stating that some of the roads are getting old; with the increasing amount of rainfall and higher traffic which they do not have the capacity to carry are some factors responsible for the deplorable state.
Rounding off the debate, the Speaker, stated that the presence of FERMA is no longer felt in the state as it used to be.
He thereafter re-invited the federal controller of works to be at plenary on Tuesday next week to answer questions about the state of Federal Roads in the state.
Also at Plenary, a letter from the governor was read by the Clerk of the house, Alhaji Yahaya Audu Omogbai on plans by the State government to raise a loan Facility from Sterling Bank to the tune of 1.5 Billion Naira to maintain and rehabilitate Internal roads.
After debate, the Speaker, stated that with the incessant rainfall and deplorable state of roads, the 1.5Billion Naira loan facility is a welcome development and subsequently called on the Clerk to make clean copies available to relevant authorities.
