FERMA Clears Drainages and Repairs Abuja-Keffi Highway

The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) began clearing silt and repairing failed drainage systems along the busy Abuja-Mararaba-Keffi highway on Tuesday.

Starting from Kilometer 9 near Mararaba market, FERMA officials opened waterways and removed silt, while direct labor workers worked to ease traffic congestion.

Significant remedial work was also carried out on the failed drains, the Ado bridge, and the setback separating the dual carriage roads on the Masaka axis of the Abuja-Keffi road.

Martin Eze, FERMA’s roads maintenance engineer for the Federal Capital Territory, informed the press that this exercise is part of the “Operation Desilting of Waterways” program initiated two weeks ago by FERMA Managing Director, Dr. Chukwuemeka Agbasi.

Eze emphasized that FERMA’s main challenge is managing human activities and urged traders and residents near the drainages to stop dumping refuse into them.

“This is a continuation of the program recently launched by our MD, Dr. Emeka Agbasi. We are currently at Km 9 along the Mararaba-Keffi Road. The goal is to ensure that all waterways, drainages, and hydraulic structures are open and free-flowing during the rainy season. This will help prolong the life of our roads. We appeal to road users, especially those near drainage facilities, not to pour refuse into them. Some wait for the rain to start before dumping refuse, which blocks the waterways,” Eze said.

He dismissed concerns that traders might be displaced by the ongoing work, clarifying that the exercise is only to clear the waterways and not to reconstruct or expand the roads.

“The fear of displacement does not arise as we are not reconstructing the roads or expanding them. We are only maintaining the existing roads, so it won’t affect anybody for now. This is a continuous process. We carried out a similar operation last December until people began silting the drains again. One of our major challenges is managing people’s activities, but I can assure you this exercise will be completed before the rainy season,” he stated.