Earth moving equipments mobilized for piling and reconstruction of the bad portion of Trailer Park-Eleme Axis of the East-West road Rivers State. Photo credit: Kote Obe
Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Following the assurances of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to a delegation of Rivers State Stakeholders led by Governor Siminalayi Fubara, that the bad portion of East-West road in Rivers will reconstructed, massive work has started.
Governor Fubara had among other things, pleaded with President Tinubu to urgently intervene on the deplorable Eleme section of the East-West road as the December deadline for the competition of the Port Harcourt Refinery was fast approaching to enable easy lifting of petroleum products.
However, when our Correspondent visited the deplorable section on Tuesday October 10, it was found out that the contractor; Reynolds Construction Company limited ,RCC, had mobilized to the Trailer Park area Eleme axis of the road and work has commenced.
Our Correspondent sighted the presence of heavy earth moving equipment like cranes, excavators and others for piling of pillars possible construction work of an overhead bridge.
It was also observed that substantial clearing and excavation had been done on both sides of the road. There were indications that a Flyover may be constructed at the intersection at the Trailer Park.
There was a watertight security with the presence of armed soldiers and other security agencies at site. This is to ensure the security of the personnel, equipment and uninterrupted work for the project to be completed within record time. Vehicular movements were being diverted to the nearby villages.
Attempts made to speak with the Site Engineer of the Construction Company to throw more light on the scope of work and the scheduled time frame for the completion of the work were not successful as he was said to be unavailable.
However, residents and road users, especially Truck Drivers spoken to expressed happiness that finally work has commenced on the unpassable section of the road.
They narrated the harrowing experiences they have been suffering and manhours wasted navigating deplorable section of the raod. The millions of naira worth of goods were constantly wasted on the road.
In a related development, ahead of resumption of construction work the road, the Chairman of Eleme Local Government, Chief Hon. Obarilomate Ollor has led a demolition exercise on structures hampering the commencement of construction work by RCC at the Trailer Park area.
Ollor who was responding to distress calls from the management of RCC, the company carrying out construction work on the Eleme axis of the East West road maintained that the people of Eleme and road users have suffered too much as a result of the bad state of the road and as such he will not let anything or anyone obstruct or cause delay on the fixing of the road.
The management of RCC had earlier called on the Chairman to intervene following refusal by some persons operating around the Trailer Park area to relocate their structures so as to pave way for the commencement of construction work.
The Council Boss used the medium to appeal to residents and road users to give RCC full support and cooperation to ensure they carryout their operations smoothly. He also warned all those who would want to constitute nuisance to desist and not even tow that part as they will be vehemently resisted.
It would be recalled that the Rivers State governor, Fubara had led stakeholders of the state to Abuja on Thursday September 14 after thanking the President for appointing Rivers sons to key positions.
Those appointed are Chief Ajuri Ngelale as spokesman to President Tinubu and Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, and the former governor of Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Others are Chief Frank Owhor as South-South representative on the board of North-East Development Commission(NEDC), Hon. Boma Iyaye as Executive Director, Finance and Administration in Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and Chief Tony Okocha as Rivers representative on the Board of NDDC.
Governor Fubara commended the President for his resolve to revamp the Port Harcourt Refinery by December 2023, but urged him to order an immediate reconstruction of the failed section of the East-West Road leading to the refinery to ease movement and informed that the state government was already constructing the Woji-Aleto-Refinery road to cushion traffic difficulties.
In his speech, President Tinubu acknowledged their solidarity with delight and said his administration is already taking measures to reverse the current stalemate experienced across sectors and doing so by harnessing the various talents of Nigerians who are hard working and richly endowed.
The President said he was aware of the numerous concerns about the poor state of the East-West road and assured that actions will be taken to fix the road to ease the suffering of the people.
President Tinubu expressed confidence in Chief Wike, who he described as his Adviser, to deliver on his mandate as Minister of FCT and urged the Rivers delegation to trust him with their demands because they will get required attention.