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From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
The Federal Ministry of Works has mobilised a contractor, CGC Nigeria Limited, to Ozobulu, in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State, where erosion washed away a section of the Onitsha-Owerri Road. This is as the government also promised to fix the bad portion in readiness for the Yuletide season.
Speaking to Sunday Sun, the Federal Controller of Works, Engineer Emeka Opara, said that bad weather may be a major hindrance to the completion of the road in good time.
“On the timeline, when you are dealing with laterite, let me put it in a local way, red mud and water are not friends. Concrete and water are friends. If we have a clement weather, then it’s possible that absolutely we would be able to stabilise that particular place at least to the finish level before Christmas. But every day is vital. We only need to pray that we have a clement weather ahead of us that will enable us to do the earthworks before we start with surfacing the road,” he said.
The controller, who is the supervisor of the job, said the road is an important gateway that requires immediate attention.
“The Onitsha-Owerri Road is an emotional road that connects South East and South South. So, it is not to the interest of the government or my office that that road is cut. We are working to make sure motorists will be able to commute freely on that very axis. So, if you are domiciled in Ozubulu, you don’t only listen to what I tell you, you can go on site in the morning hours between 8 am and 12 noon to see what is happening there. A lot of journalists have come there and they saw the commitment of the present administration to ensure that the commuters are not left alone in the federal road. I commend the Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, for his rapid response to mobilise the contractor.
“As you know, it’s not the controller who will bring the contractor. It was two days after the rains that the minister mobilised the contractor to that site. The work there is ongoing. There’s no magic. You can go there yourself and see for yourself and make your own report based on your own observations than somebody briefing you,” he Sunday Sun.
