The Federal Ministry of Works has announced that road construction in the country will, henceforth, be guided by a new policy, News About Nigeria reports.
The policy unveiled by the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, is aimed at transforming road construction in Nigeria.
The Special Adviser to the Minister on Media Uchenna Orji, who disclosed this in a statement on Friday, noted that the policies will address the poor pace of work and improve the service life of federal roads.
According to him, the new policies include the introduction of rigid pavements, reduction of claims for variation of price by contractors, removal of consumer price index from contracts, and introduction of uniform pricing in each zone.
He also stated that the Ministry has also engaged with the Ministry of Steel Development for the revitalisation of the Ajaokuta Steel Company, established the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund, and commenced the Second Phase of the Highway Development Management Initiative.
These policies, according to the Ministry, are designed to ensure value for money spent on projects, improve the quality of roads, and enhance economic growth.
“The Ministry has come up with new policies to mitigate the poor pace of work and improve the service life of Federal Roads,” the document read partly.
Details of the new policies as contained in the document read as follows:
“Introduction of construction of Rigid Pavements (Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement) as against the Flexible Pavement (Bituminous), where appropriate, especially where there are high water levels and poor soil structure;
“Reduction of the claims for Variation of Price (VOP) by Contractors, which has, consequently, saved government money and reduced the incessant request for augmentation of project contracts;
“Removal of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from all contracts, thereby giving the government value for money spent on the projects;
“Introduction of Uniform Pricing in each zone to ensure fair rates are utilised for procurement of projects;
“Enhance supervision of all ongoing projects, which requires all field staff to be on-site;
“Introduction of Whistle Blowing on bad jobs by engaging stakeholders such as communities where the projects traverse, road users, etc to monitor works executed and report where poor quality works are being executed;
“Engaging in priority projects within economic corridors whose early completion will spur economic growth;
“Engaging in the completion of one carriageway before commencing the second carriageway for dualized projects;
“Sending Regional Directors/Special Projects Directors to the fields/sites to supervise project execution as well as ensure quality and timely project completion,” the statement reads in part.
