Politics

Gov.Okowa Laments Poor State Of Federal, Says Communities At Risk Of Been Cut Off

Published

5 years ago

Oct 19, 2019.

The Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, has lamented the rate at which federal roads were falling apart across the country.
Okowa stressed that if care was not taken, communities were at risk of been cut off from the rest of the country.
The Governor revealed this while addressing journalists in the state’s capital, Asaba on Friday.
He noted that the state and federal government was overwhelmed by the rate at which roads were falling apart across the country. Adding that, it was a huge problem.
He said “There is no doubt that many of the federal roads are in a very pitiable state. If you ask me, are they are not in a position to take on all the roads? I do not think they are in the financial position to be able to take on all the roads; that is the situation at the moment. We cannot shy away from the fact that the economy of this nation is not exactly where it ought to be and therefore there are challenges.”
”If you look at the budgets that are being presented, it is easy to know that the federal government is challenged, state governments are challenged, and there is obviously a problem on ground. The federal government has said they are not able to make refunds because those monies are not budgeted for.”
Okowa noted that the Federal government was having challenges with resources and as such, dilapidated roads could not be addressed.
He said “So the question is, what do you do as a state? You either fold your hands or find a way of doing the best that you can. As it is, if the federal government has money, they will be able to make refund. The budget that we have seen in the last four yes, if you ask me candidly, do they have money to be able to make refund? I believe there are challenges. I am not an economist, but with the level of experience I have gotten, I know that they have huge challenges on their hands, but they ought to maintain the roads.
“Last year, there were refunds that were made to states concerning roads, but that was for roads done in the past and they made it clear to us as state governors that they will no longer be in a position to make refunds for roads not provided for in the budget of the federation.
”I like to speak on issues based on the knowledge that I have and I know that this was the discussed at the National Economic Council. We would have preferred that they either repair the roads on their own or they make refunds, but now, I believe that they are quite challenged.
“But we want to encourage them towards ensuring that our roads are repaired because many of the roads that were constructed years ago are now beginning to fail. Unfortunately, many of those roads are in Delta State and the roads have a life span.
“No matter how well a road is constructed, after some time and you are still hoping that the road will remain the way it was, it is difficult, more so when we are beginning to have very long trailers on the road, because when the roads were designed, they were not designed by such big trailers. It is a huge problem that we have on our hands.”