By Princely Onyenwe, Imo
The return of tollgates in Nigeria is close by the recent a nouncement of government for individuals to apply for license to operate and maintain highways.
The federal government says it will grant licence for individuals to build, operate and maintain highways.
The arrangement is under the new highway development and management initiative (HDMI).
This development is coming after the federal ministry of works and housing received the Outline Business Case Certificate of Compliance to commence procurement process for the concession of 12 federal highways under the HDMI.
The certificate was issued by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).
9News Nigeria authoritatively revealed that a document released by the ministry and signed by Boade Akinola, its director of press and publicity, the FMWH said the concession process will be classified into two categories — value-added concession and unbundled assets approvals.
For the value-added concession, the road pavement and entire right-of-way will be on concession for development and management by the concessionaire.
While for the unbundled assets approvals initiative, “approvals/permits are issued for individual assets on the right-of-way on a build, operate and or maintain basis”.
This will lead to the use of tollgates for concessionaires to recoup investments.
The ministry said the consessionaire agreement will provide adequate highway services through the development of revenue-generating assets along the highways. It added that over 200,000 jobs will also be created by the initiative.
”Both approaches aim to provide adequate highway services through the development of revenue-generating assets along the Highway. This is key to maintaining the functionality of the highway as well as engaging and generating wealth for indigenous small and medium enterprises,” it said.
“The main objective of the initiative is to attract expertise and sustainable investment/funding in the development of road infrastructure and to maximise the use of assets along the Right of Way and develop other highway infrastructure.
“It’s not really about revenue, it’s about the expected injection into the economy. The estimated private sector investment required for the development and maintenance of the 12 routes is N1.34 trillion and the impact such investment will have on the economy cannot be overstated.
“A minimum of 50,000 direct jobs and over 200,000 indirect jobs are envisaged to be created spanning construction works, installations, steel fabrication, security, hospitality, vehicle repairs, waste management and administrative work as the value chain along the highway economy is activated.”
This is likely to improve and sustain government resolve to make Nigerian roads safe.
9News Nigeria (Owerri)
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