Governor Mohammed Umaru-Bago of Niger says his administration will construct and rehabilitate 1,500km of roads in the next four years.

The governor stated this at the groundbreaking for rehabilitating and constructing 202km of Minna township roads.

Mr Umaru-Bago said the road projects were part of his ‘aggressive urban renewal policy’ that would transform the state significantly.

He said the state had several federal roads spread across and that his administration would not hesitate to fix them.

According to the governor, talks are on with the presidency for a refund of money injected into the federal road projects.

Mr Umaru-Bago charged the youth to take advantage of the road projects to gainfully engage themselves as materials and human capital would be sourced locally.

He added that the state government, through the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, would develop an empowerment scheme for those that would trade around the construction sites.

Earlier, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Suleiman Umar, disclosed that the project has 202.4Km, consisting of 22 different roads, categorised into two phases, with phase one covering eight roads while phase two covered 14 roads.

He said this was in addition to five interchanges and flyovers at strategic locations and new roads as a pass that would open up the State capital.

The speaker, Niger House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Muhammed, commended the governor for his unwavering determination to transform the state.

The managing director of China Civil Engineering Corporation (CCECC), David Wang, promised to collaborate with relevant stakeholders and ensure harmonious relationships with the locals for timely and qualitative projects.

(NAN)