Works ministry not in charge of East-West Road, says Fashola 

 Okwe Obi, Abuja 

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, says the ministry should not be held responsible for the state of disrepair on the East West Road, insisting that the maintenance of the road was under the purvey of the Ministry of Niger Delta.

Fashola, who spoke yesterday in Abuja when the Coalition of South South Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, paid him a visit, however said it was not the entire stretch of the road that was bad.

“Let me inform that the East-West road is not the responsibility of the Ministry of Works; it is the Ministry of Niger Delta and by extension, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). Please take that message straight home,” said Fashola.

Fashola, also, appealed to Nigerians not to spread fake news on the state of the road when a section is spoilt, saying  motorists and commuters should be specific on the section that is bad to enable it to be quickly fixed.

“Please tell the public how some of the East West roads have been completed because I have driven on it; from Bayelsa, through Rivers, Delta all the way to Edo State,  we drove on the road,” he said.

“The whole portion of the road is not bad, but a section. I think we should be accurate in our statements. Let us take away the bad news and put good news. Many sections of the road are motorable and good, while we will fix the bad section,” he added.

Meanwhile, Chairman of FOSSCCIMA, Emma Avworo, has appealed to Fashola to set an agenda for the infrastructure development of the South South States in order to boost the industrial growth of the region.

Avworo, also demanded for the provision of housing estates and the completion of abandoned  housing projects in the region.

“In several states in the South South, abandoned Federal Government housing projects abound. We urge you to look into these with a view to reviving them,” he said..

“What we request will not only make the roads more usable, or provide more housing units, but jobs would be created during the construction phase for maintenance staff, weight bridge operators, and inspectors, and this will drive entrepreneurship,” he added.