FG Set Aside N10bn In 2017 Budget To Construct, Rehabilitate 65 Roads

The Federal Government has set aside N10 billion for the construction and rehabilitation of over 65 roads and bridges to enhance transportation system in the country.

The Minister of Budget and National Planning, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, disclosed this at the public presentation of the 2017 Appropriation Act on “ Budget of Recovery and Growth’’ on Monday in Abuja.

Udoma said one of the focuses of the administration was to ensure good roads across the country.

He said the amount was earmarked for the rehabilitation of Lagos/Ibadan road, N13.1 billion for Kano/Maiduguri road and N10.63 billion for Enugu/Port- Harcourt road.

“We have N7 billion for the second Niger Bridge which connects the East with the rest of the country on that sides because it connects not just from Delta but all the way to Lagos.

“N7.12 billion for Abuja/Abaji/Lokoja road, N9.25 billion for the Obajana junction to Benin road, N7.5 billion for the Onitsha/Enugu dual carriage way and N7 billion for the construction of the Bodo/Boni road.

“Let me say something about the Bodo/Boni road, it is again one of the things that this government is doing, we are tapping private sector partnership for infrastructure.

“This is a partnership between the Federal Government and the LNG company and we want to make sure that the road can be completed quickly,’’ said the minister.

Udoma said that N3.3 billion was earmarked for the rehabilitation of the Ilorin/Jaba road, N3.5 billion for the dualisation of Odukpaleitu and N1.5 billion for the dualisation of the Kano/Katsina road.

He said that N2.24 billion was allotted for the dualisation of Suleja/Minna road, N2.3 billion for Gombe/Numan/Yola road and N2.7 billion for Kano/Western by-pass, among others.

The minister said that the government was committed to give special attention to road development to ensure effective movement in the country.

He said: “ Nigerians must be able to move around, goods and services must be able to move around, you cannot talk about industrialisation unless you can move goods and services around.

“So, that is important and that is why we have voted so much to roads and transportation.”

Udoma said funds had been allotted for the construction of the terminal building at Enugu Airport, rehabilitation of Abuja Airport and the inland ports and supply of cargo hanging equipment at Baro.

On healthcare, the minister said: “We have voted N4.8 billion for the global fund and GAVI counterpart funding, while N4.8 billion for polio eradication initiative.

“And I did say that water is life, so we have over a hundred billion naira for water supply, rehabilitation of dams and irrigation projects nationwide.

“We have N6.5 billion for rural roads and water sanitation and N4.13 billion for guaranteed minimum price payment.

“ Rural roads are important because our farmers are in rural areas and a lot of their produce is wasted because of the difficulty of evacuation, access roads will be provided to the farmers.

“We have earmarked about N20 billion for the promotion and development of value chain across the different commodities and we are doing them item by item.

“We look at each of them and sit down with the farmers, with the financiers, with the marketers and with the processers.’’

On the various challenges in the agricultural sector, Udoma said the government was making effort to resolve them by acting on the challenges.

He said on rice, for instance, the government was developing an implementation tax force on rice, which involved the governance because the land was actually in the state.

Udoma said the government had set aside N2.1 billion for concessioning of Ajaokuta Steel Company, and N450 million for the establishment of mega regulatory agency for the mining sector.

He said N6.55 billion had been allotted for the dualisation of East-West road and the government would also ensure that there was peace in the Niger/Delta.

He said “there are regional interventions under the presidential amnesty programme which we inherited from the previous administration and we were enhancing it”. (NAN)