Reps Hold Public Hearing On Use Of Concrete For Road Construction

The Joint Committee of the House of Representatives on Works, Environment, Finance, Justice, and Science & Technology has held a one-day Public Hearing on the Adoption of Concrete Technology for Road Construction in Nigeria.

Declaring the event open, the Speaker of the House Hon Tajudeen Abbas decried the poor condition of some major road networks across the country.

The speaker who was represented at the occasion by the chief whip of the House, Hon Bello Kumo further revealed that road construction is very critical to the federal government’s ‘Renewed Hope Agenda”

Hon Abbas equally used the opportunity to commend the committees for organising the public hearing and informed that the subject matter is of major concern to the 10th House of Representatives otherwise called the” Peoples House.

Speaking further, the Speaker charged all stakeholders present at the public hearing to be open and speak out in order for the parliament to make an informed decision.

He also urged for fair comments aimed at assisting the house in making vibrant recommendations and suggestions to improve the quality of major roads across the country.

Shortly after the Speaker’s address, the Chairman of the Joint Committees, Hon Akin Alabi used the occasion to lament the deplorable state of some across the country even as he observed that most work carried out by some contractors is not commensurate with the amount of funds paid.

He also reiterated the readiness of the House to be thorough over the mandates even as he advised the committee to be transparent and fair in its dealing with critical stakeholders.

He also spoke on the core objectives of the public hearing emphasising that it is not meant to witch hunt any person or group of persons but rather to get general views of Nigerians of what should constitute major materials for our road construction.

In his contributions, the Chairman of the Nigerian Institution of Highway and Transportation Engineers, Engr Saidu Hassan expressed delight that his agency was invited for the public hearing by the Committees informing that though his agency is not against the policy, it advised the parliament to subject the policy to the scrutiny of highway stakeholders to ensure that the appropriate engineering procedures and processes are strictly followed to allow for proper implementation strategies to be adopted.

The agency also urged lawmakers to adopt the proposed concrete roads, ample time is required in order for the importation of new equipment and the training of relevant manpower.

They advocated for flexible contracts to be converted to rigid pavement adding that such will require the BPP to fix new types of concrete pavement, revise the contract sum and subsequently seek Federal Executive Council, FEC approval.

In his contributions, the Chairman Board of Trustees, Nigeria Society of Engineers, Engr Emeka Ezeh argued that since several factors come into play during road construction, such as the amount of money involved, the contractors, the equipment etc, the role of the parliament should be to legislate but not to decide for those involved.

Engr Kuti representing the Ministry of Works said the use of concrete must be reconsidered given the harsh economic environment arising from fluctuating exchange rates in the country.

The Chairman Board of Trustees NSE Engr Emeka Eze said under the issue at stake, the house should not have subjected the issue to investigation and legislation.

Earlier, Engr Ezeh who is also the former president of NSE urged for careful consideration of factors such as quality control, adherence to standards, competency and experience of contractors among others while engaging in road construction.

He informed that his society has for a very long time been engaged in road construction in the country adding that he attended the public hearing because of his high regard to the parliament.

A representative of the Ministry of Works, and Director of Highway Construction and Rehabilitation, Federal Ministry of Works, Engr Adedomola Kuti explained that the position of his submission is not for people to go full-scale concrete while engaging in road construction.

Some of the invited stakeholders at the hearing include the Federal Ministry of Works, Federal Ministry of Environment, Federal Ministry of Finance, Nigeria Society of Engineers NSE, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria COREN and the National Union of Road Transport Workers NURTW among others.