Government to start Fuel Levy Collection In 2011

The Federal Government of Nigeria has confirmed that all is now set to begin the collection of the proposed fuel tax; being the five per cent Road Users Charge on petrol and diesel as provided by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) Act by 2011.
When operational, 40 per cent of the collected money will be accrued to the FERMA for construction and rehabilitation of federal roads in Abuja and across the country, while 60 per cent would be utilized by the various state roads maintenance agencies.
According to the Minister of Works, Sanusi Daggash, who made this disclosure after an inspection tour of the Ibadan-Ogbomoso-Ilorin road dualisation, budgetary allocations are not in themselves enough to fund the road infrastructures.
The minister also said that 60 percent of the federal roads across the country are in a bad shape and that only 15 per cent are in good condition while 20 percent is just manageable.
Speaking, Sanusi said: “FERMA Act provides for road users’ charge, this will be introduced in the course of the year 2011 and the money when generated would be used to maintain the road infrastructure across the country.   People, who use government infrastructure, should be ready to pay until we find a way out on this issue of funding; the challenges will continue to be there, road users should be ready to pay”.
Daggash, who blamed the bad state of the roads on underinvestment in infrastructure and lack of discipline on the part of road users, stressed that until government finds a way out of funding problem, the challenges would persist.
The minister also disclosed plans by the ministry to introduce weigh bridges all over the country by 2011, saying that the ministry has identified contractors for the supply of weigh bridges and would send some people to China, India and UK in the next few weeks.
According to him, over 150 weigh bridges will be procured and installed where the old toll plazas were so that even if we don’t build new roads, we can prolong the life span of the existing roads.
On why most of the road contracts are still ongoing even after the completion periods have elapsed, the minister said, “it is not the contractors fault, there are interrelated issues and government can only carry itself as much as it can and contractors respond to funding and certain risks. We have our responsibilities to meet but if we are unable to meet them, do you expect contractors to fund government, we have some challenges and as far as we don’t find a way out of this problem of funding, the challenges will continue to be there”.