We Allocate Sukuk Road Funds Equally Among Zones -FG The Permanent Secretary of Works and Housing, Mr. Babangida Hussaini, has stated that allocation of funds under the SUKUK Roads Funding is done equally across zones. The Permanent Secretary spoke through Engr. Funso Adebiyi, the Director in charge of Highways Construction in the ministry during an interactive session with the media while on a routine inspection of Dualization of Suleja-Minna Road and Construction of Lambata-Lapai-Bida Road in Niger State, yesterday. The statement was a reaction to correct insinuations that the Federal Government was spending more money on projects in the North than in the South. He explained that variety of factors were involved in the construction of a road to determine the cost, among which are: level of deterioration before the intervention, topography of road alignment, soil texture of the area, the water table, the nearness to borrowed construction materials and the cost of haulage. ‘All these had costs implications on road construction’ he said. Explaining further, he disclosed that the SUKUK assisted funding was shared equally across the geopolitical zones. “The amount provided for South-West was the same for the North-West but the length of kilometres you would cover with that same amount in North-west was by far more than if it were in the South-South. The landmass up North is by far more than what is in the South and these are factors that determine the cost of road construction’ “Government is not biased, we are doing our best”, he added. On the Suleja-Lambata-Minna road, Engr. Adebiyi said the road was an important route linking part of the North-Central and North-West zones of the country to the Federal Capital Territory and also links to Abuja/Kaduna highway at Dikko Lambata. Accordingly, he said the road also linked to one of the Trunk ‘A’ roads and a major haulage for petroleum products, farming and other commercial activities. He expressed satisfaction at the level and standard of work so far on the Suleja-Minna road which has reached 80% completion while 20% completion was achieved for the newly awarded Lambata-Lapai-Bida road. He pointed out that with favourable weather, the contractors would achieve more progress on the work to meet up with the schedule. On palliatives, Engr Adebiyi stated that it is part of the component of this project to make the road motorable, while the project was going on and this he said cuts across all the ongoing projects simultaneously in the nation. The Project Manager of Salini Nigeria Limited in charge of Suleja-Minna road dualization, Daniel Kassa informed the inspection team that Phase I of the project was at 82% completion while Phase II, has recorded 20% completion; the remaining work was progressing. Kassa disclosed that they have a target to complete Phase I, Dikko Interchange and another 4km from km 33 to 77 including its asphalting work while in Phase II, they still have 3km to be completed and another 4km ahead to catch up with before the rains come. Subsequently, the Lambata-Lapai-Bida road Project Manager of CGC Nigeria Limited Mr. Tang Pengwen, said that CGC was determined to complete the project successfully and provide good road network for the Ministry and the nation as a whole. “This is a 124.8km stretch of single carriage way but double lane project. We are reconstructing a relatively new road awarded in 2018 to be completed in 2022. We have achieved 20% completion, 30km is already asphalted and a few other kilometers are going through reconstruction process. Plans are underway to complete another 15km” he said. ...

FG reaffirms Commitment to UN-Habitat Activities The Federal Government has reaffirmed its commitment to contribute to the successful implementation of the Un- Habitat activities in the country.  Minister of State for Works and Housing, Engr Abubakar D Aliyu, (FNSE), made the reaffirmation this morning when a delegation from the UN-Habitat Mission paid him a courtesy visit at the Heaquarters of the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mabushi, Abuja. The Minister assured the UN –Habitat that the Ministry of Works and Housing would continue to ensue more of Federal Government voluntary contribution to its activities.  Engineer Aliyu added that the agenda of establishing a regional Multi Country office, West Africa in Abuja for the organization was being pursued by the Ministry. He expressed Nigeria’s desire to initiate the establishment of a broad based Multi Sectoral National Habitat Advisory Committee that would be charged with the responsibility of advising the government on the domestication and implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in Nigeria, seeking intervention programmes for implementation pertaining to the NUA and mobilizing sources of donor to UN – Habitat activities. While urging the UN body to fast track the Yobe Project because of the slow procurement process, Engr Aliyu  also stressed the need to coordinate the implementation of the HAPSO and African Urban Agenda Work plans.  " We are able to restore normalcy in the area, I urge you to fast track the Yobe project which we discussed earlier, the procurement process is slow " he said  Earlier, the leader of the delegation Mathias Spaliviero who is also the Senior Human Settlements Officer, Regional Office for Africa, informed the Minister that his team was in the country to engage national partners with respect to the proposed and on-going COVID- 19 intervention projects and implementation of the New Urban Agenda as well as the Sustainable Development Goals amongst other activities.  He gave the status of the on-going Karu Swedish International Development Agency, SIDA/UN-Habitat project and its replication in the North East especially Yobe State before taking it to other areas of the country as a National Programme of intervention. He stated that already the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) has made available a grant of USD220 to carry out emergency wash, health and other Urban Planning interventions in Karu peri-urban settlements in Nassarawa State to mitigate the negative health and social –economic impacts of COVID – 19 pandemic.   ...

Road Concession: FG Issues Notice for Commencement of HDMI’s Procurement Process The Federal Government has today issued the notice for the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) to commence the procurement for the twelve Federal highway roads it intends to concession under its novel Highway Management Development Initiative (HMDI) conceived last year.  Accordingly, the Ministry has launched an e-portal commencing the procurement process for the twelve pilot Federal highway roads for concession. Minister of Works and Housing Minister, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (SAN), stated that the e-portal was launched in order to ensure competitiveness and guarantee transparency and would serve as the interface with the public in the management of the HDMI from Procurement to Implementation. He said: “Let me repeat that all our transactions will be done through this portal and we will not entertain any personal inquiries to me or to any of our staff who have correspondingly been mandated not to entertain such requests.” He said that the portal: https://hdmi.worksandhousing.gov.ng/)  would be opened for operation from next Monday and called on  those who have written  for enquires to make use of it.  “The day is now upon us, the venue is fixed and I have the pleasure to announce that the HDMI portal https://hdmi.worksandhousing.gov.ng/)  will open on Monday the 29th March, 2021, he said.  Continuing, he explained that the portal would be open for all HDMI related functions and most importantly, the Request for Qualification (RFQ) application for the Value Added Concession (VAC) which would be officially advertised on the same day.  He said the process was expected to be a vibrant process and a successful one that would unleash the commercial opportunities on Nigerian highways from paved roads, to clean and well-maintained highways, proper signage and route assurance signs, rest houses and commuter support for emergencies like vehicle towing and repairs. “Please visit the portal and I wish you all a very interactive and rewarding experience.” On infrastructure development of the nation, Mr. Fashola said one of the early initiatives of the Buhari administration was to improve the ease of doing business, and it is no secret that infrastructure was going to be an important driver of this initiative. Currently the government is executing over 700 different contracts which aggregates to the rehabilitation and reconstruction of over 13,000 km of roads and bridges across all the 36 states including the Federal Capital Territory. He said: “As a result of the size of the undertaking, there is an increasing and unsatisfied demand for funding to finance these projects to completion and to maintain them.” Delivering his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr.Babangida Hussaini stated that the Ministerial notice on the commencement of the Highways Development and Management Initiative ( HDMI) signaled the commencement of the procurement process for the concession of the twelve pilot broad corridors under HDMI. Explaining the objectives, the Permanent Secretary stated that the initiative would leverage private sector investment to improve facilities and operations on the selected routes, maximize the revenue generating potential of the routes and ensure international best practices in the development and management of the nation’s highways. He said: “This pilot project is expected to attract a lot of investment to the country, create jobs for our teeming youths and make travelling on our highways more desirable.” In his opening statement, the Ag. Director-General, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), Mr. Micheal Ohiani said that ICRC as a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) regulatory commission would ensure a level playing ground for all interested players. He therefore called on all interested investor both local and foreign to participate in the bidding processes as it would be fair to all bidders.   ...