By Marie-Therese Nanlong

Jos – Insufficient funds have been blamed for the deplorable conditions of federal roads and the federal government urged to make funds available for the maintenance of the roads across the country.

The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, Acting Zonal Director, North-Central II, Engr. Daniel Ijie disclosed on Wednesday while flagging off the Jos-Riyom-Abuja road maintenance, commencing the maintenance of federal roads in Plateau State.

The zone consists of Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, and Taraba and the Acting Zonal Director stated attention would be paid to the critical section of the roads to ensure the ease of movement of motorists and goods and added that apart from the lack of sufficient funds, harsh weather condition, and heavy rainfall, among others are some of the factors responsible for deteriorating road networks in Nigeria.

His words, “We have started the maintenance of major federal roads in Plateau State. As you can see the roads are in a very terrible condition which we are trying to make good for motorists.
We are trying to manage the traffic while working. The rain and harsh weather conditions are the major challenges. And as the rain is subsiding now we are ready to execute projects in earnest. Work is ongoing in all States under my jurisdiction.

“We are not working in isolation but in conjunction with our mother Ministry. So they know when to come in for rehabilitation. We do the maintenance and our mother Ministry rehabilitates. We have challenges with funding, but we are making good use of the limited resources at our disposal. Funding of infrastructure should be a general thing of concern. I urge the federal government to put more resources into the maintenance of Federal roads.”

However, Engineer Ayoola Bolaji, the Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer in Plateau State disclosed that the 2024 appropriation projects in Plateau-trunk the roads billed for maintenance include some roads bordering Kaduna State such as the Jos-Mararaban-Jama’a road, Vom-Manchok road, Jos-Jengre road as well as the Heipang-Barkin-Ladi-Panyam road.

He stated, “We are working in collaboration with the Plateau State, the State Commissioner of Works. We rub minds and work together to identify critical parts and pay attention to the need assessment for federal roads in Plateau State. We are in constant collaboration with the State and other stakeholders.”