Engineers back govt's road fund scheme

THE nation's engineers have endorsed the recent move by the Federal Government to establish a Road Fund, as another source to finance road maintenance in the country.They also canvassed the establishment of road maintenance agency in each of the states.In a statement at the just concluded ninth National Civil Engineering Conference, the Registrar, Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Felix Atume, stressed the need forthe nation's civil engineers to play a leading role in advising the authorities on infrastructural development projects from conception to actual implementation.According to Atume, civil engineers, through Nigeria Institution of Civil Engineers, should take up the challenge of monitoring all civil engineering projects across the country, as well as reporting their findings to government at regular intervals.He observed that the transformation agenda of the Federal Government would be achieved if critical infrastructure like water supply, adequate housing, efficient transportation system and good road network is provided for the citizenry.Atume stated however, that these could only be realised through civil engineering and the engineers who are instrumental to the socio-economic development of any given nation.The COREN Registrar also commended the Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen, for constituting a committee to carry out the desired reforms in the Road sector as practiced elsewhere in the world.Atume expressed optimism that the proposed reform would go a long way in addressing the issue of road maintenance in the country, since all the conventional approaches to road management seem not to have produced the desired results.
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