68 road construction projects ongoing in southwest – Fashola

The Federal Government on Thursday convened the 14th edition of the administration’s Town Hall meeting to discuss its efforts on infrastructure.

The meeting held Theophilus Ogunlesi Hall, in Ibadan, was facilitated by the minister for information and culture, Lai Mohammed.

Representing the Federal Executive Council (FEC) were the Ministers for Transportation, Rotimi Ameachi; Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu; Power Works and Housing, Raji Fashola; and the facilitator, Mr Mohammed.

Mr Muhammad said the meeting was called in order to get closer to the people and also to flaunt the achievements of the Buhari–led government in the area of infrastructure.

“Infrastructure spurs economic growth,” he said. “There is no doubt that, with the foundations we are laying in infrastructure, the country would experience economic growth and development.”

Mr Fashola, speaking as the Lead Speaker at the meeting, reeled out the achievements of his ministry as well as that of the administration.

He explained that his administration currently has 68 road construction projects across the southwest, with Lagos and Oyo states having the largest share of the projects — 19 and 14 respectively.

He, therefore, went on to add that most of the projects are aimed at repairing the roads rather than building new ones. This, he said, further underlies the “administration’s determination to uphold maintenance culture.”

During the question and answer session, Mr Fashola was queried by Raheem Yusuf, a representative of the Joint National Association of Disabled Persons, on the position of the government on the inclusion of persons with disability in its projects.

Mr Yusuf also bemoaned the state government’s noninclusion of persons with disability in some of its plans. He cited the Ajumose Shuttle, a public transport initiative of the Oyo state government, as an example.

In response, Mr Fashola stressed the fact that the federal government is: “Building a new national building code. In our housing estate, all the ground floor of all our building is reserved for the persons with a physical challenge.”

On the state government’s noninclusion, he added, “We have little power over what the state governments do on this issue. But we can only encourage them to do more.”

Again, Mr Ysuuf equally advised the federal government to ensure that the Persons with Disability Bill is passed, promising the APC-led government return to power come 2019 if this is done. Because, according to him, “each family has at least one person with a disability — either partial or complete disability.”

Prior to the Ibadan meeting, the 13th edition of such in this administration held on September 30 at Gusau, and it was dedicated to security.