The Abia State Government, led by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, planned to deliver the whole length of Abiriba-Nkporo Road within the first 100 days of the second term of the administration but there were challenges involving grey areas that needed settlement with the contractor, Bulletine Construction Company Limited.
The good news today is that the contractor is returning to site this week to continue work on that important road located in Ohafia LGA of Abia State. I personally confirmed from the contractor that they have commenced equipment and materials mobilization to the site in order to continue work on the drains and subsequently asphalt the road.
While the state government has paid for this new phase of the work to be done, it is important to note that phase 1 of the project has long been completed as shown in the attached picture. We are therefore confident that the whole length of the road will be delivered this year for the use of our people.
There is nothing wrong with citizens taking and sharing pictures of roads they want fixed, especially when they know they have a listening Governor who cares about their wellbeing. Yet, the fact remains that as much as we want to fix all bad roads in our state, time, weather and funding remain major limiting factors.
Even if we decide to work on all the roads in the state at the same time, we will certainly need money and time to finish up the work. That is if we also get help from those who purport to have control over weather conditions in our state, with supernatural capacity to decide on how much and when rain will fall, to avoid disrupting ongoing construction work.
We are currently working on many road projects, even with the challenges of heavy rainfall and funding limitation, and believe that we can realize many before or after the 100 days of the new term.
For instance, we have done and dusted Omoba-Umuene Road and await formal commissioning by Governor Ikpeazu. The 11km Obikabia-Umuene Road will likely be ready before the 100 days along with Aba Road-Isi Court project in Umuahia.
Work is also ongoing at Osisioma Flyover and Osusu Road in Aba and we are hopeful of completing those projects as soon as possible. Ibere Street, off Ngwa Road, Aba, will likely be completed before the 100 days target and work will soon start at Ngwa, Ohanku and Obohia roads. Ubakala Road, Umuahia, is also receiving attention and will be completed, in due course, with street lights befitting a major entry point to Umuahia.
More than 90 other road projects are ongoing within the state and are at various stages of completion. We are confident that we can complete all of them and also add another 500km of roads, using the facility from AfDB, within the second term of Governor Ikpeazu.
If you wish to take pictures of yet to be fixed roads in Abia State, please, feel free to do so. But remember to share the new picture when we complete or fix the same roads. We value “before and after” pictures and at no time did we claim that we have fixed all roads in the state requiring attention. But we can confidently state that we have fixed 76 roads and we are ready to do much more within the second term of Governor Ikpeazu.
Thank you.
JOK
