Okowa flays FG’s inability to fix federal roads, calls for sustainability policy on roads’ maintenance

Delta State Governor, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa, has flayed the Federal Government’s inability to fix most of the Federal roads, particularly in Delta State, urging it on sustainable policy for roads’ maintenance.

The Governor  said this  at the weekend in Ughelli while responding to allegations that his administration failed to reconstruct failed portions of Federal roads.
Recall that a section of Deltans have in the past three weeks criticised Governor Okowa for alleged insensitivity to the failed portions of roads, especially that of federal roads across the state.

But the Governor in what he described as crass ignorance of governance, explained that failed portions of federal roads was not peculiar to roads in Delta but, most of the roads in all states of the country, asserting that in most of the federal roads are failing and I believe there should be a policy by the federal government to maintain the roads without which the problems in our federal roads will persist”.

Answering questions from journalists at the 40th Thanksgiving service of Mr. William Agadioma, father of the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Festus Ovie Agas, Governor Okowa disclosed that most o state governments were stopped by agencies of the Federal Government from fixing such roads even at no cost to the Federal Government, adding that the burden of reconstructing federal roads is sole responsibility of Federal Government.

The Governor who also used the forum to sympathize once again with the families of the principals who loss their lives in an auto crash on the Benin/Warri expressway, assured that his administration would fix the failed portion of the road where the accident occurred, and thanked the traditional rulers in Delta State for installing in their subjects the needs to maintain peace and project government facilities in their domains.

Investigation revealed that failed portions of federal roads across the state had resulted in the death of no fewer than sixty-three persons from January to date but officials with the federal ministry of works in Department of roads’ maintenance who did not want their name in the print said the figures were not true, saying that it is within the range of ten persons.