… Main road in Lokoja should be return to the Ministry of Works and Transports for complete reconstruction.
… Our present handicap is rain. When the rain subsides, we will swing back to action and the roads are going to wear a new look.
The Managing Director of Kogi State Road Maintenance Agency, KOGROMA, Hon. Abubakar Adama has disclosed that adequate funds has to be provided for the roads in the state to be in better condition.
In an interview with our correspondent, the pioneer managing director of the agency explained other challenges and achievement of KOGROMA.
What has been the efforts taken by your agency in maintaining the roads in Lokoja metropolis and the state in general ?
As you probably have seen and know, Kogi State road maintenance efforts have been lacking before now, in fact, maintenance was relegated to the background. The main focus was construction of roads and this has resulted into degeneration of road networks in Lokoja metropolis and also in the state generally. This led to the creation of KOGROMA. And KOGROMA came into being and started its operations barely 18 months ago.
With such a young agency, one would expect that the public should have been patience with us. It is not easy to fix the damages of several years within 18 months.
So far, we feel satisfied with what we have done, some of the roads we have fixed are still standing the test of time.
Yes, we quite aware that several roads still need our attention. Even the main road in Lokoja that runs from New Market through Barracks and Kabba junction. The present condition of that road in something that doesn’t makes us happy. But our operations is such that while we maintain the roads, we also access the condition of all the roads, and in the course of assessing these particular roads, we have decided and the Governor quite agree with us that, that road should be return to the Ministry of Works and Transports for complete reconstruction.
And I’m happy to let you know that contracts have been awarded for the complete reconstruction of that road and the contractors are awaiting mobilization, the honorable commissioner for works and transport will gladly confirm this to you.
So its not fair for the public to actually start criticizing without finding out what the problems are. Its always normal for this agency for the rehabilitation of that road, actually its not economical for us to go in to start doing any patch work on that road now. Because if you look at that road, if you walk the length of that road, you will discover that at every spots, there is water running through the road, and whatever work we think we can do, it will be eroded in no time. So we have decided that it should left with the ministry of works and transport and Government has decided as contracts have been awarded for its total reconstruction.
What has been the synergy between KOGROMA and Ministry of Works and Transports?
Yes, we interact very well, as you know we are an agency under the supervision of the ministry of works and transports and we also have a board which formulates policies and interprets government’s policies as well, there is also a governing board.
You see, generally speaking, all roads in the state belongs to the ministry of works and transports. It is when the road is constructed then it will now be handed over to KOGROMA for maintenance and that’s what we have been doing. And when we discover that any roads that its condition have gone beyond what we can term as maintenance it is then return to the ministry of works for reconstruction.
What is your agency doing concerning the maintenance of other roads apart from the major one ?
Yes, we are working on them. Like the road that start from Zone 8 Round about to House Assembly to Kabba/Abuja road, is on contract. The contractors have started doing some work even before the establishment of this agency and somehow stopped. I’m not in the position to explain what happened. Since the contract has not been revoked, the KOGROMA has no business going there, but we are working on others.
What is your limitation for the maintenance of roads and creating others that links the town together?
Well, the limitations you can say is funds. That’s the main limitation we have. Left for that, we’ve been doing quite well. With my assessment of the agency, I will say we are doing well, but we still need the funds to make the roads in the state be the way we want them to be, the way the public want them to be, but however we will try to see how we can satisfy the public in a way.
In this quarter, we have gotten approval for a number of roads not only in Lokoja but also in the three senatorial zones of the state (Kogi East, Kogi Central and Kogi West). And by the time we do all these, I think the people are going to be happy with our roads. Our present handicap is rain. When the rain subsides, we will swing back to action and the roads are going to wear a new look. So we want the public to be patient with us.
What would you like to be remembered for as the MD of this agency ?
What I would like to be remembered for is on ground now. Actually there wasn’t an agency like this before I became the Managing Director. So I am the pioneer MD. I was instrumental to even the formulation of the bill that led to the establishment of the agency.
These are notable milestones which I think will go down the history lane.
