10th August, 2023
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Governor of Rivers State, Sir Siminalayi Fubara has lamented that delay by the federal government to fix the collapsed portion the East-West Road has led to sufferings by commuters.
Fubara made the observation when members of the Senate Adhoc Committee, led by its Chairman, Senator Abdul Ningi Ahmed, paid him a courtesy visit at the Executive Chamber of Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He noted that there have been deductions from FAAC account by the federal government critical national projects over the years and wondered why the East-West Road was never captured and funded especially when it leads to locations where essential national economic assets are operational.
He emphasised that the most deplorable sections are not even more than a length of 20 kilometer from the Eleme junction interchange bridge into Ogoniland on the East-West Road, which cannot be too expensive for the federal government to handle.
Fubara enjoined the committee not to end their activities with only field assessment of the state of the road, conducting public hearing and submission of their reports, but push further to see to commencement and completion of reconstruction work on the road.
“We have always complained about the dilapidated state of the East-West Road, moreover, the Eleme junction to Onne route but nothing happened. It is a federal road, but it is my people that are suffering. So, I want to appeal to you, that it should not just be public hearing, or a question of how much was paid and not paid. You should move far from much talking to making actual commitment.”
Chairman of the Senate Adhoc Committee on East-West Road and Eleme-Ogoni Corridor, Senator Abdul Ningi Ahmed informed the governor that their visit was predicated on a motion adopted by Senate concerning the East-West Road and they are physically assessing its current condition with public hearing to come later, which will assist in the reconstruction of the road to the required standard.
The governor later took the Ad-hoc Committee on a visit to the failed portions of the Eleme section of the road.