The Federal Government is set to reintroduce the use of weigh bridges on the nation’s highways, the Minster of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, said on Tuesday.
He made the disclosure while fielding questions from reporters at the ongoing Made in Nigeria (MAIN) Summit 2016 at the Eko Atlantic City, Lagos.
According to Fashola, the weigh bridges, as presently constituted, were not working optimally, hence the move by government to repair some of them.
The minister stressed that the use of weigh bridges would soon be enforced as part of measures to make the highways motorable.
“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”, 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”.
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. (NAN)
