From Jude Owuamanam, Jos
The Plateau State Government has said it’s committed to ensuring that citizens of the state enjoy smooth ride during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
General Manager, Plateau State Road Maintenance Agency (PSRMA), Engr Luka Davou, said that this the Caleb Mutfwang administration would do by ensuring that all bad roads and potholes in Jos and Bukuru Metropolis were fixed before the yuletide.
Speaking with newsmen in Jos, Davou said the State government has committed N1 billion in the the first phase of project while the second phase would commence immediately
Davou said that under Mutfwang administration, the agency’s operations have been configured to maintain a presence on Plateau roads in all seasons and that was why residents saw construction workers fixing roads even in the rain with interlocking paving stones in some of the city centers as the hot asphalt premix normally used is not suitable for wet season.
He said, “In order to minimize the challenges posed by bad roads to free movement of persons and goods, the agency ensures that palliative interventions are carried out with the use of boulders on portions that are almost degenerating into craters while the use of cold mixed asphalt and interlocking paving stones are also employed either as palliative or outright fixing of some roads, depending on the terrain.
“The agency swiftly deployed its men to many parts of the State immediately the Governor gave us a go ahead order, so as to rapidly fix the potholes, using hot asphalt premix through both day and night operations.
“We are taking full advantage of the dry weather witnessed so far in the past one month to treat many defective road portions as well.”
He assured residents that fixing of roads will be a continuous exercise, adding that he had been receiving feedbacks from residents about the state of roads in their vicinity and expressed the willingness of the agency to all to all requests.
“Much as we have been going round to identify such roads, we have also been getting feedback from the people about the state of roads in their locality and we attend to them promptly so as not to allow further deterioration of the roads,” he added.