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JOE EFFIONG, UYO
Residents of Navy Town Road at Ibaka in Mbo local government area of Akwa Ibom State have called on the state government to come to their rescue over an abandoned road project which contract is alleged to have been awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The road, a 7.3m wide access road stretching about two kilometers linking the jetty to Ibaka – Oron road, Akwa Ibom State, was allegedly awarded by NDDC in 2013 to Messrs Foul Plant Nigeria Limited but was later abandoned, thus plunging the area into untold suffering.
A visit to the area over the weekend revealed that the abandoned section, which is about 1.8km of the road is in a very deplorable state, despite the fact that it was partially asphalted.
Sunday Bassey, a youth leader in the community, said the contractors abandoned the project in 2018 after a slow pace of work which started in 2013.
“Notably, between 2013 and 2018, the work was abandoned after overlaying about 697.3m of bituminous asphalt from the jetty in Ibaka beach to the main gate of the Naval Base.
“The completion of the Naval Base access road to link Ibaka-Oron access road will not only ameliorate the terrible suffering experienced when plying the road, especially during raining season, but will equally enable the Navy to respond on time in case of security emergency,” Bassey said.
He lamented that the Navy road close to the base and entire Ibaka community had suffered without electricity for the past five years, and called on the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Comp (PHEDC) in the area to come to their aid.
Bassey disclosed that several the community to reach, and letters to the Gov. Umo Eno and his Deputy governor, Sen. Akon Eyakenyi proved abortive.
He also noted that several efforts in the past by youth organisations in the area to draw attention of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to the abandoned project proved abortive.
“When we drew the attention of the state government to the poor state of the road, the usual reply has always been that the NDDC will complete it but since 2013, the road has still not been completed.
“The abandoned road project has caused motorists and other commuters along the road many years of hardship and further escalated the insecurity been experienced in the community as it slows down the response time of the security agencies particularly the Navy in the event of any security emergency”, Bassey said lamented.
Ulo Akan, a commercial bus driver who plys the road from Oron town to Ibaka called on the state government to urgently rehabilitate the 1.8km road without waiting in perpetuity for NDDC.
Akan also called on the just constituted NDDC Board with Akwa Ibom son, Mr. Victor Antai, as the Executive Director Project to ensure that the contractor is summoned back to site.
“This road is economically very viable to the state, a single individual cannot hold the people of this area to ransom by abandoning a job he gladly collected from NDDC”, Mr Emmanuel said.
He explained that the 1.8km road that used to take just 3 minutes drive from the naval base, now would take you 30 minutes due to the deplorable state of the road.
A businessman residing in the area, Ngozi Chukwudi suggested that a law should be made by the National Assembly to check and jail contractors who abandoned projects, describing the act as an economic sabotage.
Chukwudi wondered why abandoned NDDC projects are littering the Niger Delta region and called on President Bola Tinubu to address the ugly situation, saying it has impaired development.
He noted that the abandoned road which leads to the navy base would delay the Nigerian Navy’s swift response in case of security emergencies in the area.
He also explained that the completion of the Base access road that links Ibaka–Oron access road would ameliorate the terrible condition experienced by the residents, improve operational response by the navy base and also reduce insecurity in the area.
Daily Sun could not confirm from the contractors the reasons for abandoning the road.
