By Jide Owatunmise
SIR: The decision of the government in road concession through tax credit policy is a commendable move which is expected to boost road infrastructure for economic development.
It should however be noted that the compromise on the part of the government and concessionaires could make the policy counterproductive. For example, the Lokoja-Kabba road concessioned to Dangote has passed through several make up repairs within three years after construction. Some portions of the concrete road failed within two years after construction.
Less attention was paid to the road shoulders on the right and left sides of the road. Within two years after construction, the sand on the road shoulders were washed away thereby endangering the main road. This error of neglect was however corrected about two years ago by pouring granite and asphalt on the road shoulders to secure the road. A well done road shoulder provides support to the main road on the sides while also serving as a lay-by which drivers can use to park particularly when their vehicles have problems.
It is also disheartening that up to this moment, the long stretch of road from Lokoja to Kabba has not been adorned with the appropriate traffic signs and road markings since it was completed. More worrisome are the speed breakers (bumps) that litter the road but without appropriate warning signs and markings on them thereby turning what are supposed to save lives to death traps for vehicles, particularly in the nights.
Much more worrisome is the failure of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, the supervisory ministry on road construction and the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), the lead agency on road safety administration to identify get the above-mentioned lapses fixed for over three years now. FRSC and the Nigeria Police have been involved in several emergency operations at accident scenes on the road without paying the required attention to what should be done so that the crashes could be prevented.
Whenever a road is being constructed, officers of the federal and state Ministries of Works must regularly monitor the works done to ensure full compliance to global best practice. The quality of work done goes a long way to determine the durability of the road and safety on the road. FRSC must also monitor the roads to ascertain the safety component of the road whether contracted to do it or not. The safety of lives and properties is very paramount in every country where lives count.
Finally, on the newly dualised road in Ikare-Akoko in Ondo State. All the roundabouts constructed on the road are dangerously too wide, particularly the one at Jubilee junction. The large size of the roundabouts chokes the two lanes into a little more than one standard lane. To prevent further accidents at these roundabouts, there is an urgent need for the contractor of Ondo State Ministry of Works to urgently remove the second outer part of all the roundabouts so that there will be sufficient space for manoeuvring around them. This will prevent traffic logjam, confusion and crashes at the junctions/roundabouts.
The drainage system on the Ikare Road also needs to be revisited by the Ondo State and Federal Ministries of Works with the contractor particularly during this raining season. The roads particularly from Ilepa to Jubilee are usually flooded whenever it rains.