The Minister of Works, David Umahi, says President Bola Tinubu’s administration is putting an end to over three decades of substandard road construction in the country through the implementation of durable, high-quality infrastructure projects nationwide. Speaking during the inspection of the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project on Tuesday, he said the Federal Government had adopted new engineering standards and technologies to ensure Nigerian roads last 50 to 100 years without major repairs.
He explained that roads constructed in the country for the past 30 years had been substandard, saying, “because each administration works on them every time.
“The question you ask is actually why? The reason is our construction method, which is why I tagged it that President Bola Tinubu is not constructing roads. He’s building roads.
“That is what I insisted, that we will use this road to show an example of what we can do when we dare to take the project from Julius Berger. “But one significant thing that the President is doing is that he is building roads.
“Shortly, we will see the roads. What statement is the President making? He is telling you that the roads he is building during his administration will last 50 to 100 years. You are not touching it.
“The problem of this country is that there are no major roads built in this country in the past 30, 40 years, that each administration has not been working on.” Umahi faulted the model contractors have been using for the roads, adding that the method of construction has been the problem.
He said, “When Julius Berger was doing the job, they removed the asphalt. They said they want to grind it with laterite. Umahi explained that asphalt had a shelf life of 25 years, saying, “So, after 25 years, it starts wearing off.”