By Roseline Okakah

No fever than 60 kilometres of the ongoing road projects across the three senatorial districts of Ondo State will be asphalted within the next few months.

The acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Infrastructure, Land and Housing, Engr Idowu Allen, made this  known while reacting to the go back to sites order by the state Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to the contractors handling various road projects in the state.

He particularly lauded the Governor for his clear directive, saying it will speed up infrastructural development in the state and improve the socioeconomic well-being of the citizenry.

Allen identified paucity of funds as major challenge confronting execution of infrastructural projects, just as he lauded the commitment of Governor Aiyedatiwa to address the situation in the interest of the people.

“Government has signified interest in touching every life in the state by ensuring that all our existing roads are properly maintained and those that are already failing are attended to immediately.

“Within the next three months we hope to be able to lay asphalt on the ongoing roads up to 60km all over the state. We have grouped them in the central, in the north and  in the south.. 20km for each senatorial district. In the next three months, you will see our roads wearing new look all over the state, in every local government area of the state.

“There is no time that this ministry has compromised quality. Irrespective of the situation in town, irrespective of other factors, this ministry has maintained the standard and we are proud to say that.

“But I want to give kudos to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa. I’m saying that because it is very rare for you to see a transition that would culminate in the continuity of some of these projects, and you know the projects started by his predecessor.

“The governor came on board and he gave a very clear directive that he is going to complete the same projects started by the administration of Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. He made it clear that there is continuity in governance. He promised to complete these projects and also widen the scope of the project landscape.

“This is a great news to those of us in the infrastructure sector because what we normally have is that when a government comes on board, instantly the first thing they do is perhaps terminate existing projects, start their own and resulting in several abandoned projects all over.