By Juliana Katung
Kaduna (Nigeria) — Kaduna State House of Assembly, northwest Nigeria has directed the State ministry of Works, Housing and Transport to transfer about N1.5 billion allocated for the construction of street light in the current fiscal year.
It will now go for the payment of debts incurred on the clearing of drainage’s and other projects in all the 23 local government area of the state in the year 2018.
The House vowed not to approve the year 2018 budget of the ministry until it presents all the details of the proposed roads to be constructed in the year 2018 financial year to avoid the repeat of what happened in 2016 and 2017.
The House Committee on Works, Housing and Transport chair by Alhaji Muktar Isa Azo gave the directive when the Ministry appeared before it for the budget defense.
According to the committee, drainage is more important than the streets light as lack of it, poses danger to the lives and properties of the people.
It said there is no provision for its continuation in the year 2018 budget estimate of the Ministry, hence the need for the transfer of fund.
The committee observed that the drainage project was executed in four major local government areas and stressed the need to be extended to the other 19 local government areas in the interest of fairness.
On the issue of roads, the committee noted that roads construction was being awarded without consulting members that are representing the people in such constituency.
This, the committee observed, usually brings about the multiple construction in one community, while some areas do not have a single good road.
Meanwhile, Commissioner, Ministry of Works, Housing and Transport Mallam Hassan Usman has said that his ministry is set to pay those that truly executed the clearing of the ongoing drainage project next week.
On the road construction, the Commissioner said the ongoing township roads construction was awarded strictly based on local government headquarters as Governor El-Rufai realized that the council headquarters were still looking like hamlet settlement, hence the need to upgrade them.
