Flooding: We’re yet to ascertain extent of damage to roads – FG

The Federal government says it is yet to ascertain the level of damage the current floods ravaging some parts of the country has caused to road networks.

The government said it could only assess the extent of damage to the roads when the water finally recedes.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) said in an interview with State House correspondents after the week’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting chaired by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja,

He noted that the flooding of major roads had caused some logistic movements and disruptions in supply chain such as fuel and foods.

Persecondnews recalls that several parts of the country are experiencing flood lately, and some major interstate roads such as the Kogi-Lokoja highway, have been taken over by the flood.

Fashola said: “At this stage, it is difficult to quantify the damage to the roads, the only thing that is clearly visible at this time, and that is because the flood is still receding.

“So it is when all of that is gone that we can really see how much damage has been done. The impact is that just like in any situation of extreme weather condition, travel logistics are hampered, so some of the roads are difficult to traverse.

“It has caused some backlog in logistic movements, we are already seeing some disruptions in supply chain, like fuel and some other things.

“But we hope that when the water fully recedes, we will see the full extent of damage. But we are already planning our Ember-months movement, which we do in the last quarter of the year.”

“So that will take into consideration any damage that has been done and we’ll try and remedy as much of it as resources and time allow us, so that we prepare for that heavy movement period during the festive period,” Fashola said.