Inspection of Ongoing Federal Roads Rehabilitation in Northwest Zone: We Know Concrete Road Technology Will Be A Huge Success, Says Works Minister
…..BUA Cement restates commitment to reduction in price
We know that concrete road technology is going to be a huge success for the benefit of our people, says the Honourable Minister of Works, Sen. Engr. Nweze David Umahi, CON.
According to him, we are sure that utilizing concrete road technology is the right decision and so we have not made any mistakes insisting that concrete road technology should take its root, especially in some of these key projects.”
The Honourable Minister disclosed this today in Sokoto while fielding questions from journalists after the inspection BUA Cement facility which is part of his inspection of ongoing rehabilitation of highways in Sokoto State.
Speaking on his visit to the State, Sen. Umahi disclosed that “first, I'm here to inspect as you know, a very ambitious road project being embarked upon by His Excellency, the President of the Republic of Nigeria, Senator Tinubu Ahmed.
He added that the Federal Government was “constructing 372 kilometers of roads, multiplied by two, which means its dualization. One road is an existing one, which we are doing complete rebuilding, and then a brand-new road, again, of 372; a total of 744 km roads.
The Honourable Minister revealed that “Mr. President wants this road very fast, but wasn't too sure if we can get the volume of cement to use. So, we are constructing the first 372 kilometers running from Kaduna, Zaria, Zamfara, to Sokoto, with asphalt as the carriageway, and then the shoulders will be concrete”.
Adding that “but the entire new lane, carriageway, will be constructed with concrete.”
Stressing the agenda of President Tinubu for the road sector, Sen. Umahi reiterated that “I know very well that Mr. President's still desires that the public should get something much better. And he's giving all the support, so we still expect that you will fulfill the promise you made to Mr. President as we're going back to the status quo so that the public can benefit.
“The very massive housing project Mr. President has embarked upon will definitely see the light of the day. And also, the massive road construction Mr. President has embarked upon will also benefit from this initiative.”
Commenting on his impression of facility tour of BUA Cement, Sen Umahi said “So we have gone there, we have seen, and it's quite amazing, the complexity of the cement factory of BUA in Sokoto.”
“We saw very organized industrial setup, no single dust. There was no need to use a nose mask. There was no loitering of workers, everything being in automation.”
While speaking to journalists about the cooperation of BUA Group with the Federal Government on the reduction of price of cement, the Group Executive Director, BUA Cement, Alhaji Kabir Rabiu while thanking the Minister, told them his company stands by their commitment made to the Federal Government two weeks ago.
He said further that “then we gave a commitment, not only on the pricing, but also on additional capacity to go to the market, reassuring that with 165 additional trucks on a daily basis from our Sokoto cement allotment, we're putting almost 400 trucks by day of cement into the market.”
“We believe this additional capacity is going to have a serious positive effect on the supply and demand issue in the country, he emphasized.
He reaffirmed that “we also gave in our commitment that we don't believe cement should sell more than 7,000 Naira anywhere in Nigeria.
He thus promised that “we will continue to do our best to support this administration, to support Mr. President's agenda in ensuring that Nigerian economy is back on its feet and is doing so much better than it is doing at the moment.”
On his part, the Senate Chairman of Committee on Housing, Senator Aminu Tambuwal noted that cement product is very critical and a major component towards delivery of housing projects by the Federal Government by state governments and even by the private sector in our country.
The inspection visits by the Honourable Minister to Sokoto and Zamfara States will see him inspect four projects across four States; which includes Katsina and Kaduna States.
