FERMA, Anambra partner on road maintenance

The Managing Director/CEO, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Engr. Nuruddeen A. Rafindadi, and the Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo, have agreed to form a productive and strategic partnership to maintain roads in the state.

A statement from FERMA on Monday stated that the agreement was reached during Soludo’s visit to the agency in Abuja recent.

It stated further that the parnership will help to ease the suffering of the people of Anambra State in their daily movement from one place to the other, and for their businesses.

The statement quoted the Managing Director of FERMA saying that the governor’s proposal for a productive partnership was a great idea which the Agency is pleased to accept.

Rafindadi added that partnering with the Anambra State Road Maintenance Agency was a professional strategy by the governor, adding that the agency will pull its expertise to work with the state’s agency to fix roads across the state.

He said: ‘’FERMA is the first and only government agency that has the widest scope and expertise on road maintenance in Nigeria, it has competent staff that can work wonders when challenged’’.

The MD said Anambra state has 14 Federal roads of about 682 kilometres and that half of the agency’s attention during EMBER months is usually focussed on South Eastern states especially Anambra state because of its status of being the gateway to other parts of the country.

The MD said the agency had justified its mandate of efficiently and effectively monitoring and administering roads maintenance with the objective of keeping all federal roads in good and safe conditions across the federation.

He mentioned a number of roads in Anambra state that has been maintained and that the agency will continue in its giant stride especially with the partnership of the Anambra State Roads Maintenance Agency.

Earlier, Soludo said the purpose of his visit to the agency was to commend the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency for the good job it is doing in Nigeria and particularly in Anambra state.

He appreciated FERMA for the efforts it is making in the South East especially in Anambra state, saying that the agency’s intervention in the maintenance of federal roads in the state had yielded good results which has eased the suffering of the people of the state.

Soludo said the other reason for his visit was to ask for productive and strategic partnership with the agency to fix and maintain Federal roads in the state.

Explaining, he said, the government of the state would want to partner the agency to the extent of providing funds when necessary even if it will require refund to enable roads be maintained as at when due.

He also said that FERMA should consider a possibility of working on roads that of priority to the government.

This Soludo said will help in easing the suffering of the people, and also help the Agency to deliver timely.

The Executive Director, West Operations and FERMA board member, Engr. Mujaidu S. Dako, in his comments, reiterated the agency‘s readiness to partner with the government of Anambra state, saying that the governor was a reliable person who has the interest of the people of Anambra state at heart.