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From Paul Osuyi, Asaba
Whenever the clouds gather in Asaba, Delta State, residents of Edozie Okonkwo Street, behind the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), always have their hearts in their mouths.
The anxiety steals sleep from their eyes. The people are apprehensive over a seeming disaster waiting to happen, following the apparent failure of one of the recently completed storm water drainage projects at its discharge point.
The Governor Ifeanyi Okowa administration, in a bid to permanently address the perennial flooding challenge in the capital city, executed five storm water drainage projects.
For this particular project connecting Edozie Okonkwo Street, floodwater from DLA Road, Jesus Saves Road, Agric Road and parts of Nnebisi Road is channelled through the street to empty at Amilimocha River, a tributary of the River Niger.
Residents of the hilly street had heaved a sigh of relief when the job was completed because of the challenge hitherto associated with accessing their homes as a result of the once deplorable road.
But their breath of fresh air now appears to be shortlived because of the collapse of the concrete slabs of both the side drain and part of the road close to the discharge point.
They are approaching the next rainy season with trepidation. According to some residents, lives and choice properties are under threat should there be any major downpour even before the wet season sets in proper.
The defect was first noticed in the last quarter of 2021, and landlords in the area, under the aegis of Agu Progressive Union, wrote a Save Our Soul letter to Gov. Okowa through the Delta State Ministry of Works.
The letter, dated November 17, 2021, and signed by the secretary of the union, Ogbueshi Godfrey Chibuzor Elunor, indicted the contracting firm for allegedly doing a shoddy job.
“It is indeed saddening that despite the good intentions of the state government in awarding the contract for the construction of the storm drains to mitigate the annual flooding in Asaba, the contractor clearly did not do a good job or obviously used sub-standard materials to execute the project. Thus, the present danger posed to lives and properties in the area,” the letter read.
In another letter dated March 4, 2022, which was also signed by Elunor, the union expressed deep concern “that up till now nothing has been done to re-award the contract for the reconstruction of the failed sections of the storm drainage in order to safeguard the lives and properties as well as businesses of those living in the area, considering that the rainy season is almost here.
“Therefore, we humbly and strongly wish to re-appeal that His Excellency use his most exalted office to urgently direct the appropriate authorities to re-award the project or call the contractor back to site to repair the failed/collapsed sections of the storm drainage in order to forestall the looming danger.”
When Daily Sun visited the troubled area, it was observed that the structure had already collapsed about 300 metres away from the discharge point. The concrete slabs used to pave the road were caving in, gradually cutting off the road.
Mr. Sunday Eze, a resident, told our correspondent that the development was a huge source of worry for them.
“We are very afraid. Once the weather changes as if it wants to rain, nobody sleeps again. Our lives are under serious threat. Once it rains, we might not have access to our houses. So, it is very dangerous and a serious threat to the lives of residents,” Eze said.
Eze, who applauded the state government for efforts to address flooding issues, attributed the failure to the inadequacy of the side drain to contain the enormous flood channelled through it.
“This drainage here is too small to contain the volume of water coming through. So, they need to come and deepen it, at least. Let them come and do something to deepen it and take it to the river,” he said.
Another resident, Pope Stanley Uchenna, attributed the failure to the use of sub-standard materials in the execution of the project.
“At first, when they completed the project, it was okay but now it is not something that I can tell you that I am happy with; it is bad in the sense that, in Nigeria, I don’t know why we like using sub-standard materials to construct things that are supposed to last forever, things that are supposed to last because of the people who are going to use them.
“These are things that are being used by human beings, not animals. Even if they are being used by animals, they still need to be constructed very well. It is barely three years since the project was completed, and we have started seeing this, it is not good at all.
“Government should come back here and do the needful because, any rain, not even the rainy season, these houses are as good as gone. We are not looking at the houses but those living in the houses, these are families. How will they cope if the road finally breaks into two?
“I know Okowa has tried, but I am begging him to come to our aid because that is why we voted for him. I know this is a project I believe he will say he has done with, but you cannot be done with something that is not really done with, because, if they had taken this thing across the river, and also ended it well, I don’t think we would be seeing this.
“Even if he does not want to come back because of the residents, he should come back because of FMC, because government is making a lot of money from there.
“If Okowa cannot do it alone, let him involve the Federal Government, which is making money from FMC. You can see new structures within the hospital. I don’t think the Federal Government should allow this yawning erosion to affect their cash cow,” Uchenna said.
Describing the situation as critical, another resident, David Odinaka Nwoke, said they were fed up granting press interviews, alleging that the state government had simply turned a deaf ear to the pleas.
Nwoke, however, expressed confidence that Gov. Okowa would do something about the situation “because he has already done many projects.”
“We are not going to blame the government because this is a natural disaster, what we are begging for now is that government should come to our aid and rescue the situation.”
Also, Elder Chukwuemeka John appealed to the governor to come to their aid, saying, “This erosion has been the talk of the day. We appeal that this should touch the governor’s ear. We have tried all our best to reach out to the governor.
“The thing is coming closer by the day, the buildings are under threat. I don’t think we can still be living here after this year’s rain.”
Contacted, the Delta State Commissioner for Works (Urban Roads and Highway), Noel Omodon, said his office was aware of the situation, adding that steps were being taken to remedy it.
“I am aware of it. I have been told about it, and I have gone there about two or three times. My engineers have also gone there twice, we are looking at how we can address the issue,” he said.
Omodon disagreed with residents of the area on the cause of the collapse, attributing it to water surge from the river, and insisted that the project was executed with quality materials.
“It is water. Water surged down from the river, that is what caused it. It is not as a result of sub-standard materials. As a matter of fact, very top class materials were used in that job, but the water surged on it, and our design did not quite accommodate that,” he added.
On the allegation by the residents that government failed to respond to their appeals, Omodon debunked it, saying he has had dealings with them, and he actually went to the site to have first-hand information.
