The Federal Government has announced plans to toll some of the roads which would be constructed under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) programme to enable the concessionaires to recoup their investment.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, disclosed this during the inauguration ceremony of three committees set up to fast-track the implementation of the HDMI on Tuesday, according to a statement on the ministry’s website.
- “We own the design; you will own the cost of the project while we carry out verification on the cost of the projects; the idea is to scope the projects. We want to have a standard road infrastructure to toll.
- “Our business is to ensure that your design conforms with the Ministry’s standard of design, that is why we are making the Director of Roads and Bridges of the Ministry to be the Chairman of the committee on Scoping and Design.
- “We don’t want to do just a patch on the road and give it to the public for you to toll. The public will resist. We want to have a standard road to toll,” Umahi explained.
Explaining further, the Minister of Works said that not all the roads that would be tolled under the HDMI arrangement would have alternative routes.
- He said: “We have to provide an alternative road because by law you cannot toll road if there is no alternative route to it. It is very important that every one of the projects must have alternative routes. The number of toll gates and toll stations will be determined by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC).”
Umahi also revealed that roads that would be constructed under the HDMI programme would have CCTV cameras, solar lighting systems and other security apparatuses to make the roads safe for public use.
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The statement further revealed the three committees set up by David Umahi for the actualization of the HDMI programme to include: Scoping and Design, Financial Due Diligence and Agreement Review.
While constituting the Due Committee Committee, the Minister hinted that construction of the road projects under the HDMI programme are expected to kick off by the end of March 2024.
- “We must have a figure to begin to work with under Due Diligence committee, we want to hand over all these sites to people who are serious by the end of March 2024. Enough of these meetings, enough of the bureaucracy,“ he emphasised.
He also pointed out that the Federal Government would not tolerate concessionaires defaulting on the rules of engagement.
- “I must say that in case timelines were set and any company couldn’t meet up with the timelines, we may not continue processing anything with that company,” he stated.
Speaking further, Umahi stressed that the cost of all the contracts provided by the concessionaries for various road construction projects would be verified and adjusted against inflation to ensure that none of the projects stops halfway.
What you should know about the HDMI programme
- The Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI) programme is an initiative set up to ease the financial burden of road construction projects on the Federal Government.
- The HDMI programme is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement in the construction, operations and maintenance of highways nationwide.
- The programme is designed in a manner that the emergent concessionaires can recoup their investments through toll and non-toll revenues as may be negotiated.
