Anambra: Ochanja ongoing road construction intact; govt, residents debunk viral video

From Aloysius Attah, Onitsha

Reactions have trailed the viral video of a road construction project around Ochanja Iweka Road Onitsha reportedly washed away after a brief rainfall on Monday.

The video which triggered various negative reports attracted a handful of government representatives, media personnel and other stakeholders including residents and traders who gathered at the scene on Tuesday morning only to discover that the social media video was misleading.

Contrary to the accompanying voice note in the viral video which claimed that the project was substandard work done by the Soludo administration as the road washed away after a few days of commissioning, it was discovered that the project was ongoing while it was the accumulated refuse dump at a portion of the embankment made by the construction firm and a small portion that was asphalted few hours before the rain that actually washed off but was hyped to claim that the project was totally substandard.

The state Commissioner for Works, Ifeanyi Okeoma, an engineer who spoke on the viral video, said it was an affront to throw spanners into the good works of the state government.

Okeoma accompanied by Soludo’s Political Adviser, Dr Alex Obiogbolu said, nothing of a sort ever happened to any of the roads either ongoing or completed in the state.

“Every one of us is here on this road and you can see that nothing happened at all. We actually saw the video last night and first thing this morning, we came here to find out that nothing like that happened as you can see for yourself.

“The Contractor worked on Sunday and closed for the day and he stopped at a small potion that is about one foot and there was a heavy downpour and the base was blocked and that point is about one foot that got washed off.

“As you can see we are all standing on the stone base material that was primed, so we are shocked at that mischievous video sponsored by the opposition to throw spanners into the good works of the state government and as you can see work is in progress,” he said.

The Manager of Zodic Construction Company Mr Mark Chu, the contractor handling the project, said that the company has about one foot left out of the entire Moore Street- Upper Iweka Road Project Ochanja and work is ongoing.

“We want to reiterate that our company is providing Anambra state good quality and durable road infrastructure and we cannot be distracted by mischief makers and the public should disregard those false stories” he said.

Mr Mark Chu further noted that the Ochanja road project currently has a water fountain at the roundabout which used to be a mountain of refuse dump in the past before the contract was awarded.

“The project apart from the water fountain would also have street lights with a wide water drainage system which empties at a larger canal in order to protect the road and the market from flooding and also protect the goods owned by the traders.

Mr Mark Chu urged the traders and residents in the area not to block the drainages with waste, adding that provisions are being made for the dumping of waste which would be cleared as quickly as possible.

According to him, the Moore – Upper Iweka Road Project is 2.3 km and up to 1. 7 km of the project has been completed.

The spokesman for the residents of the Ochanja, Moore and Upper Iweka area who is also the Chairman of Fegge Landlords Association Mr Okwudili Obinwanne described the viral video as a capital lie.

According to him, they are residents of the area and they witnessed the downpour yesterday which did not in any way impact negatively on the road.

“We find it difficult to believe that someone in his right frame of mind would go to the extent of blackmailing the governor with such falsehood”

“You here to see for yourself and make the spot investigation into what happened and from what you have seen so far, you can attest that this is the handwork of mischief makers,” he said.