How FG is deploying home-grown technology in road construction-Fashola

The Federal Ministry of Works and Housing says it is partnering with the Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute (NBRRI) to use home-grown technology in road construction across the country.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, made the disclosure in Abuja at NANForum, the flagship interview programme of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

Fashola said even though NBRRI is an agency under the Ministry of Science and Technology, his ministry had been partnering with the agency to produce and use its products.

According to him, one of such research products is the Polymer Modified Bitumen used to strengthen the pavements in some ongoing road projects.

He said this technology had been deployed in the construction of the Enugu-Port Harcourt, Abuja-Kano and Lagos-Ibadan highway projects among others across the country.

The minister also said the partnership with NBRRI had resulted in the extensive use of concrete in road construction.

“We have introduced it in Obajana-Kabba, Apapa to Oworonsoki, Papalanto and Kaduna Western Bypass.

‘`We have now introduced for the first time a concrete design manual; Nigeria didn’t have it before.

” We developed it at this ministry and we shared it at the last National Council of Works meeting which held in December 2020.

“That helps to trickle down to all the states, so hopefully, we will see more concrete-based roads as part of our use of what you produce initiative championed by President Buhari.

“These are some of the things that are in progress.

” Also in our housing schemes now, you would struggle to find any imported item on our construction sites, from doors to nails, to roofing sheets, almost everything is locally made.

“We have to as a matter of policy ensure that unless we can’t make the thing in a suitable quality that is when we can accept the foreign one,’’ Fashola said.

The minister also said the partnership had helped in driving the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises which produce all the materials used in building the houses.

Fashola said this also was creating more jobs and more wealth, adding that “slowly but surely” the country is moving in the right direction.

The minister, who also commended the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency for its efforts in executing its mandate, insisted that there was no plan to scrap the agency.

” There is no plan whatsoever to scrap FERMA, infact FERMA has never been more busy in any other administration than this one.

” I commend the MD and his management team for a job well done and I know they will do more if they have more resources to strengthen them,” he said.(NAN)