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(NAN) The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said on Tuesday that the Federal Government would reintroduce the use of weigh bridges on the nation’s highways.
Mr. Fashola made the disclosure while answering questions from journalists at the ongoing Made in Nigeria (MAIN) Summit 2016 at the Eko Atlantic City in Lagos.
The minister said that currently, the weigh bridges were not working optimally.
He, however, said government was repairing some of them and targeting making the roads motorable as the use of the weigh bridges would be subsequently enforced.
“The bridges are not in optimum use, but we are rehabilitating and re-installing some.
“You will see increased regulatory compliance on the roads as they return to motorable quality,” Mr. Fashola said.
Responding to the issue of re-introduction of toll gates, and financing of road projects, he said that it was an issue that had to be decided by Nigerians.
He said that tolling alone will not be able to finance road maintenance because of traffic variation on different routes.
“If you toll, it is usually best practice to provide an alternative route and therefore, depending on how heavy the traffic is, people may choose to use the longer route in order to save money,” he said;
He explained that federal legislators were working on a bill that would “give some legislative framework for tolling.’’
Mr. Fashola added that government had begun creation of a road maintenance plan that targeted creation of jobs and business opportunities for small businesses, artisan and other professionals in the construction industry.
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