Abuja – The Minister of  Works, Mr Mike Onolememan, on Tuesday gave an assurance that a master plan for the nation’s highways would be developed to enhance infrastructure planning and design.

Onolememan, who said this  in Abuja while addressing management staff  of  the ministry, called for retreats involving  staff who would be involved in the development of the master plan.

He said the ministry would play a key role in President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda and urged all the staff to be involved bearing in mind the ministry’s strategic position.

Onolememan said  the ministry’s major challenges were planning, design and identification of green areas, adding that  they would be addressed accordingly.

The minister expressed sadness over the huge sums of money awarded every year for projects that were often abandoned.

“ Every year, large sums of money are being paid for contracts and at the end we have nothing to account for it,’’ he said.

Onolememan, who said that the ministry would discourage abandonment of  projects, appealed to contractors to ensure completion of  their projects.

Mr Bashir Yuguda, the Minister of  State in the ministry, also commended the management staff  for ensuring  service delivery.

He canvassed  the need for involvement of  indigenous contractors in project execution as well as the use of direct labour. (NAN)