The Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) has been berated over its comment on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) activities.
In a press release made available to journalists in Abuja weekend by Comrade Lanre Johnson, Chairman of Nigeria Road Monitoring Group, frowned at the claim that FERMA has failed in road maintenance. The group, a non-governmental organization is committed to ensuring that roads in the country are safe.
Johnson wondered, “how can anyone say FERMA has failed when they have a specific mandate to operate within”?
Johnson explained “you would have appreciated how reliable FERMA’s intervention is if you had gone with us when we did on the spot assessment of the maintenance work by FERMA along Benin-Auchi-Okene road, Apiapum-Obubra road, 9th Mile-Obollo-Afor road, Umuhia-Ikot Ekpene road, Owerri-Umuhia-Port Harcourt road as well as Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road, Damaturu-Damboa-Maiduguri road, Benin-Ore road, Ibadan-Sagamu-Lagos road and Sokoto-Kebbi road among others”.
Johnson said it would have been impossible for motorists to ply some of these roads if not for FERMA’s efforts. “With what our members saw on ground it would be unfair for anyone to say FERMA has failed”.
He observed that it is wrong for people to blame FERMA for every bad road in Nigeria without finding out if such road falls under their jurisdiction or not. “Some of this roads might have been awarded for re-construction but because people don’t know, they blame FERMA,” stressing, “What I expect from RTEAN is a call on the Federal Government for improvement on the level of funding to enable FERMA stay a float and play its role of complementing the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Works adequately.”
The group however called on Nigerians to also support FERMA’s. For instance, “people should stop disposing solid waste beside roads or drainages as they cause roads to collapse.”
We know that a lot of people have commended FERMA. For instance, not too long ago, residents of Mangoro area in Agege, Lagos commended FERMA for rehabilitating Ile Zik-Agege motor way; the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, commended FERMA, the South-South, and South-East Development groups also commended FERMA for the ebullient and effective manner in which they maintain the Nation’s highways”. FERMA also rehabilitated about 4,500 kilometers stretch of roads nationwide in the year 2010 alone. We are yet to gather the full statistics for the year 2011 because some of our members are still touring some parts of the Federation.”
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RTEAN’s claim on road maintenance not true, says group