Chairman, FERMA, Mr. Ezekiel Olajide

By Crusoe Osagie

The Chairman, Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Mr. Ezekiel Olajide Adeniji, has assured members of the organising Committee of the Oil and Gas Trade and Investment Forum 2012 of the agency’s support.
The pledged support involves the rehabilitation of the bad portions of the road along Eleme to Onne junction in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The Chairman stated this when members of the organising Committee, led by its acting Chairman, Mr. Yunusa Sani Labaran, paid a courtesy visit to the agency’s Headquarters in Abuja.

Adeniji said that FERMA would partner the committee to ensure that the forum takes place without hiccups to both local and international participants for the event.

He assured that the road would be passable before the event holds on September 20. “We are partners in progress and I had directed that prompt action be taken to rehabilitate the bad portions of the road before the event commences”.

Earlier, Labaran, who is also the Deputy Director (Multilateral) Federal Ministry of Trade and Investment, had thanked the chairman for his prompt action and directives on the request of the Organising Committee.

He said the road flank of the Port Harcourt expressway from Eleme to Onne junction, which was not more than 5km, was bad and would require urgent rehabilitation to ease traffic jam on the road.

He added that the forthcoming event was an international one and that Nigeria was expecting more than 300 participants all over the world to showcase their services and invest in Onne Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone.

The forum is part of government’s effort to increase investments in the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone in the country and to showcase the success story of the zone to attract more investors both locally and internationally.