The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has commenced emergency repairs at the failed sections of the East-West Road between Ahoada and Ula-Okobo town in Ahoada West Local government area of Rivers State.
The NDDC managing director, Samuel Ogbuku, inspected the ongoing repair works at the failed sections and appealed to motorists to cooperate with the contractors undertaking the repairs.
Ogbuku said that the emergency repairs would restore the link between Rivers and Bayelsa states and observed that the contractor was having challenges with taking construction materials to the bad spots.
The NDDC boss, who was accompanied by other directors of the commission was briefed by the engineers of Webster Global Ventures, the construction firm handling the project for the commission.
Ogbuku observed that the deplorable state of the road necessitated the emergency measures the NDDC was taking to immediately restore the road and make it motorable.
He apologised to road users, especially truck drivers, who had been stuck at the bad spot for many days, assuring them that the NDDC would support the efforts of the Federal Ministry of Works, which was constructing huge culverts at the sections that were washed away during the 2022 flood.
The NDDC boss in a statement signed by the commission’s Director of Corporate Affairs, Seledi Thomson-Wakama, assured that the commission would complement the efforts of the construction company working for the Ministry of Works to urgently fix the failed sections to restore the links between Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta states.
He said: “We were here a week ago and we saw it was impossible for any vehicle to ply between Rivers and Bayelsa States. After that visit, we promptly engaged a construction firm to urgently fix about 1.5 kilometres that were virtually impassable. Our inspection today has shown that we need to work on more sections of the road.”
The managing director of the construction firm handling the repairs, Opeoluwa Adara, assured the NDDC that the company would expedite action on the repair work.
He regretted that some of the motorists were making it difficult for them to bring in materials for the repairs.
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He promised that the road links to Rivers, Bayelsa, and Delta State would soon be restored.
He said: “It is challenging but we have been working to stabilise the bad sections and make them motorable.
One of the truck drivers, stuck at Okobo, Malam Sani Ahmed, lamented that he had not been able to move his vehicle for over one week.
He appealed to the Federal Government and the NDDC to come to their aid by fixing the road, stating that they were at the mercy of criminals who were taking advantage of their helplessness.
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EAST-WEST ROAD