World Bank Road Review Projects To Commence, Soon

A World Bank funded road capacity review project will soon commence.

The Corps Marshall of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Osita Chiodoka, has said.

According to the corps marshal, “the project will provide a review of the road sector in Nigeria and then prepare an investment strategy for the bank to begin to make investment in the Road Safety Sector in Nigeria”.

He said the consultant hired for the project had arrived and by September, he will come with the first draft of the report. “Hopefully before the end of the year, we will finalise it and have a document that will give the Word Bank an investment strategy in Nigeria”, he added.

He recalled that the World Bank had also given the country a N330 million loan to rehabilitate three key corridors. “The World Bank had given a N330 million loan to Nigeria , and that loan is for the rehabilitation of three key corridors in Nigeria.

“It was supposed to be for Lagos-Ibadan, Abakaliki-Mfon-Ogoja roads up to Cameroun border, and then also Makwa-Bida-Jebaa axis”, the corps Marshal said. He said that although the Federal Government had given the Lagos-Ibadan Express Way to concessionaires, they were working on the Mowa-Bida-Jebba road.

The World Bank in that loan brought out $6 million as the road safety component, they are not only going to rehabilitate the roads, they are going to make sure that they are safe.

“But because of the way we have managed the project and how fast we have moved they have increased that $6 million to $10 million”, he said.

Chidoka disclosed the corps plan to conduct a safety audit, have its presence on those roads and ambulances as well as tow trucks to make the roads safe.

“So, they are going to be buying heavy duty tow trucks, ambulances, patrol vehicles on those corridors to make sure that the corridors are turned to safe corridors in their own plain”, he said.