From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
House of Representatives Committee on Works has said it would hold a public hearing on the use of cement for road construction in the country.
The chairman of the Committee, Akin Alabi, who disclosed this, at the inaugural meeting of the Committee, in Abuja, said the House is committed to effective oversight of the Federal Ministry of Works and parastatals under its purview.
Alabi, while commending President Bola Tinubu and speaker of the House, Tajudeen Abbas, for their commitment to infrastructural development, also stated that the Committee will collaborate with the Ministry of Works and its agencies to ensure rapid “transformation on our roads.’
According to him, the “Committee in this 10th Assembly needs to be much more proactive considering the myriads of challenges on our road infrastructure.
“As most of you must have watched with keen interest, the revelations coming from the Honorable Minister of Works from his tour of various roads projects across the country, I have no doubt that our job is well cut out for us.
“As a parliament of the people, our intervention is very crucial to ensure that we ameliorate the sufferings of our people on the roads. As a committee, we must come up with legislation, policies and interventions that will improve the situation on our road infrastructure.
“On every sitting day in the House, the committee receives nothing less than 2 to 3 referrals on motions from members drawing attention to roads infrastructure in their constituency calling for attention. There is no doubt that the situation of our road infrastructure is highly deplorable. That is why we need to swing into action immediately.
“We have also heard from the executive, via the media on new ways fo use concrete for the construction of highways as opposed to the old method of using asphalt, as a Committee that ensures transparency, we are calling for a public hearing on this very important issue and will invite stakeholders from the public and private sector. ”
Alabi added that “Though the last government carried out some initiatives, policies and interventions on road infrastructure, we need to review some of these ideas and determine their work-ability or effectiveness in addressing our general concerns.
“During the last administration, the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF) managed by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and the Highway Management Development Initiative (HDMI) under the guidance of Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) were among several initiatives employed to improve road infrastructure.
“We welcome all the new innovative ways that will make our roads more durable, so we will ensure to work with research agencies that will present viable solutions to improve the construction process. “