FG sets up c’ttee to tackle collapse of federal roads

ENUGU—The Federal Government, weekend, inaugurated a committee charged with the responsibility of checking frequent collapse of federal roads and strengthen their lifespan.

The committee known as Federal Roads Committee on Surveillance and Action Against Road Abuse, is expected to identify locations grossly abused, carry out public enlightenment to bring a stop to such abuse.

Membership of the committee was drawn from the Nigeria Police, the Army, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Federal Road Safety Corps.

File: Benin-Ore road

Others are the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers, Federal Road Maintenance Agency and the National Orientation Agency.

While inaugurating the committee for the South-East zone at the weekend, FERCSARA, National Chairman, Mr. Kelvin Onuoha, said offenders apprehended by the committee would be made to pay fines.

Such road abuse, he said, included excessive axle loading by commercial trucks and trailers, cutting of road or road shoulder for pipe or cable laying and burning of tyres on the road.

Onuoha also identified mechanics and vulcanizers using road media or road shoulder as workshop, villagers digging on bridge embankment for sharp sand, dumping of waste on drainage, refuse dump growing fat along highways as bad habits that accelerate road failure.

He said: “Defacing of road signs using campaign posters, erecting shops on top of drainage line, vandalizing bridge railings, street light poles, abandoning broken down vehicles on road shoulders are other alarming road abuse that make the federal highway very unsafe.”

According to him, preventable bad habits had become a major challenge on the roads in the zone.