FERMA Boss Worried over Slow Progress of Work on Highway as December Comes Calling

It will be recalled that the president recently sent out warning signals to concerned agencies about the state of the country’s highways, giving them a December ultimatum to ensure that there are no more portholes on the highways. S this deadline draws near, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency’s boss, Mr. Jide Adeniji, has expressed his worry over the slow pace of work on the Enugu-Port-Harcourt highway.

Adeniji queried the state of the road, saying the dilapidation suggests that the contractors handling its repair had done little or nothing to put the road in shape. He also decried that just one month to Christmas, “the contractors are yet to complete at least half of the renovation work on the road.”

The FERMA boss expressed his worry on Sunday at the site in Enugu on Saturday after monitoring the extent of work done so far. He pointed out that in order to enhance speedy and easy completion, the agency had divided the road into four segments.

These four segments, Adeniji said, were Enugu to Okigwe, Okigwe to Umuahia, Umuahia to Aba, and Aba to Port-Harcourt. He said, “We have about four contractors at the right side if you are coming from Enugu, and the first three segments belong to FERMA (three contractors)… There is no problem about funds. We have enough money to do whatever we are doing to ensure that the maintenance process is completed before people begin to travel for Christmas.