By Jennifer John
Imo State Government has disclosed said its final decision on the usage or otherwise of the two flyovers in the state would depend on the outcome of their evaluation by the initial consultants/contractors who started the projects.
The state Commissioner for Works, Ralph Nwosu disclosed this in Owerri at the weekend in an interview with newsmen.
He recalled that he was the Commissioner for Works during Ohakim administration when the flyovers were designed with high standard, before Okorocha took over and did what he thought was the best.
“I was the Commissioner for Works when the Flyover project started, then we retained the services of a very competent consultants and engineer.
The contractor, Recon Engineering was one of the best and competent. They could match Julius Berger in terms of quality. They did a very wonderful work at the initial stage of the project, before Okorocha came and felt otherwise”.
Nwosu also explained the import of the Memorandum of understanding ( MoU) signed between the state government and Julius Berger.
He said the MoU entails that Julius Berger should look at the design of Owerri- Orlu and Owerri -Okigwe and redesign if necessary, after which officials of the company will sit down with the government and discuss on terms.
He said the government was able to attract the company due to the dealings of the governor with the company as a private businessman.
He gave the distances of the roads to be Owerri-Orlu , 34 Kilometers and Owerri- Okigwe, 54 kilometers.
On the tunnels, the Commissioner disclosed that the one at House of Assembly junction which had been demolished had serious cracks and posed serious danger to the safety of Imolites and all the road users.
He said the second tunnel at the Concorde Hotel junction could be reinforced, since it has no cracks and not as bad as the other.
The Commissioner said government was construncting strategic roads and drainage projects in the state, which was aimed at providing a permanent solution to the hydra- headed problem of flooding in the state.
Nwosu advised Imolites to be patient with the government, because,according to him, the Governor, Senator Hope Uzodimma was passionate to bequeath a lasting legacy to the state.
