Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo has explained why his administration is fixing federal roads.
He said he would continue to reconstruct and repair damaged federal highways to ease people’s sufferings, adding that he would approach the Federal Government for reimbursement of funds spent.
Okpebholo, who spoke when he visited Ogheghe–Ologbo axis of Benin–Sapele Highway, said he could not allow the daily carnage on major federal highways, which his predecessor refused to handle.
He said: “You can see for yourself how terrible this place is. This place looks as if there has never been a government here. The PDP government, to me, is going to be blamed for this. On Saturday, a trailer fell and got burnt here. A lot of people lost their belongings around here. So today, I have come to see for myself what happened. The road is bad.
“I think the best way to go is the way we are going now; to fix this road by ourselves and later revert to the Federal Government for reimbursement. What we are doing is to keep this place safe for our people to ply.”
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Special Adviser on Project Implementation and Monitoring, Williams Bello, said the 10.15 kilometres section was recently handed over to Edo State Government by the Federal Ministry of Works when the Minister of Works visited the state.
He said: “You can see that our governor is being proactive. The contractor, who was already handling 23.2 kilometres of the project, is now extending work to this newly-conceded section. In the middle of the road, they are already excavating for the drains.
“This area has unsuitable materials that cannot absorb water. So, a major drainage channel, about 7.5 metres wide, is being built to carry storm water towards the bypass where there will be a discharge point. Since we are now in the dry season, the contractor will be able to build up the road profile and lay the stone base.”
