By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Residents of Okpuno in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State have called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to come to their rescue as they now consume and wallow in dust day and night due to the negligence of the contractor handling the ongoing road construction works in the areas.
Some of the residents who spoke with this reporter when he recently embarked on a tour in the area to examine the ongoing road works and sample people’s reactions, shared mixed feelings about the work.
A good number of them, including Onyeka Ibeh, Amarachi Nwafor, and Samuel Odumegwu said their joy knew no bound when they heard of the award and flag-off of the road project, which were immediately follwed up with mobilisation and consequent commencement of works at the site.
They lamented that the roads, most especially the Oby Okoli Avenue, had been deplorable and without functional drainage system for years while some few better parts, including the Y-Junction axis and the UNIZIK Junction axis, were riddled with potholes and gallops, thereby causing the users untold hardship, most especially during the rainy season. They commended Governor Soludo for intervening on the roads and resuscitating their hope of having good road again in the area, while also pleading with him to sustain the good work and to ensure timely completion of the roads in most quality standards.
On the other hand, many other residents claim that the road reconstruction has created and posed more varieties of problems to them now than the road itself had ever done when it was bad.
According to them, the contractor handling the road has no human feelings, by feeding the entire residents and the denizens with dust, day and night, without any remorse. It was complained that the already scraped portions of the roads, from UNIZIK Junction to Abakaliki Street Junction and from the Regina Caeli axis of the Abakaliki Street down to Ngozika Estate Junction of the road, were left dusty and unattended to, all to the detriment of the residents and road users.
“Almost everybody who lives around here now has serious catarrh and other cough, as a result of daily consumption of dust emanating from the roads. And you know that this is a harmattan period, when everywhere is naturally dusty, then coupled with this nonsense this nonsense this people are doing us here in the name of road construction,” Mr. Ikenna Okagbue, a business center owner in the area lamented.
“Are they not supposed to be watering this road every time to see that it is regularly wet and not dusty? What will it cost the contractor or the construction company to engage a water tanker to wet the road regularly than to inconvenience us like this by exposing us to life-threatening sicknesses? Please, the Governor should look into this. That’s all I am saying.”
Another denizen of the area, Mr. Chidi Ugonna, who is a dry cleaner, lamented that dust oozing out from the roadside has caused him a serious set back in his laundry services in the past few weeks, because the roads are not regularly watered as supposed. He also wondered why the contractor would not be doing the asphalt at the same time than leaving the road dusty and untarred for over a week now since after scraping it. He also faulted the contractor for not creating drainage channels along the roads, wondering if the roads would still be left without drainage system as they were before.
Mr. Ugonna further called on Governor Soludo to embark on regular inspection of the project, to ensure that the contractor is doing what he supposed to do, without any compromise.
When interviewed on the situation and the complains, the State Commissioner for Works, Engr. Ifeanyi Okoma, who acknowledged that road construction usually and generally comes with some degrees of temporary inconvenience, however said it was not right for the construction company to leave the roads dusty, as they should be regularly wet, for the convenience of the road users and the residents. He also assured to look into the situation to ensure that the effects are mitigated.
On the complains of road construction without drainage, the Commissioner said it was still too early for someone to start judging the contractor over certain things or criticising the project itself, adding that no reasonable government or contractor can fully execute or commission a road project without drainage system. He, therefore, assured the people that the road will not be without gutters, as there are provisions for same in the project.
While highlighting the feats so far recorded by the present administration of Governor Soludo in the area of road construction, the Commissioner further assured the people that Governor Soludo would not relent in giving them the best, both in terms of quality and quantity.
As wether Governor Soludo is meeting his target in road constructions in the state, Mr. Okoma said, “We are just nine months and few days in office, but we have awarded over two hundred and fifty kilometers of roads in different parts of the state, and funded them to a minimum of thirty per cent mobilisation. That is a great record all over the country. So, Anambra is actually a construction site. The Governor is truly doing a great work. And we will surely meet our target.”
