FG needs N2trn to complete ongoing road projects ---Fashola
(Nigeria) The Federal Government will require about
N2trillion to complete no new fewer than 226 ongoing road projects across the
country.
Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola,
SAN, made the disclosure in Lagos while speaking at a Town Hall meeting organised
to brief the public on the activities of the government in the last 11months.
He, said that the total amount allocated to all the sectors
under his ministry in the 2016 budget was less than N500billion, stressing that
the government did not have enough resources to complete all the projects at
present.
Fashola added that the focus of the government for now would
be to complete some of the projects and not to undertake new ones.
``The Ministry of Power, Works and Housing proposed
N423billion at the Federal Executive Council and the information reaching us is
that we are not going to get all that. Ongoing road projects alone awarded by
the government before we came-- about 266 roads awarded in the various states--
the liability to complete them is about N2trillion.
``So, when you look at N400billion,you know that that that
is not enough, but when you compare what this administration is going to do
with the N400billion, with what the last administration did,you will know it is
much progress.
``What the last administration did was to budget N18billion
for all the roads in the country, knowing the liability was in excess of
N2 trilion.
``For the three sectors, that is Works,Housing and Power, the
total budget by the last administration was N24.5billion. So ,this
administration decided to move away from that and that is why we have a figure
that may not be enough, but substantial for the sectors,” he said.
In the power sector, the minister said though there were
many challenges facing the sector, the government would do everything possible
to fulfill its promise to revamp it.
He said the 5,000 megawatts the country was generating was
inadequate and explained that the government was completing some ongoing power
projects and taking other steps to boost generation.
On electricity metering, Fashola said his ministry was
engaging the distribution companies to ensure that they distribute metres to
households.
He said it was through metering that consumers could be
appropriately charged and that power companies themselves could block revenue
leakages.
The minister said government was designing a housing model
for the country that would not only take care the problem of affordability but
also take into consideration cultural suitability in every part of the nation.
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