. . . say this Yuletide will be stress free as all potholes have been filled and drainages desilted
By Uche Amunike
Residents in Anambra have expressed their satisfaction at the present state of roads, especially as the Yuletide fast approaches. This was revealed during a road inspection tour by journalists in the state and the agency set up by the state government to ensure zero pot holes on Anambra roads, the Anambra Road Maintenance Agency, (ARMA).
Speaking during the road inspection, the road maintenance boss, Engr Emeka Okoye reiterated that his agency, by their consistent road maintenance work in the past six weeks since the rains subsided, merely proved a point to Ndi Anambra, that Gov Willie Obiano meant business when he promised that all roads in d state would be free of pot holes before the Yuletide.
So many residents expressed their joy at the massive patch work being carried out by the agency in their different areas. They thanked the state government for the palliatives and looked forward to the Yuletide, saying that they were sure that the usual traffic congestion would be a thing of the past.
Mrs Bridget Uchenna Ilogu was particularly enthusiastic as she thanked the state government for remembering her street, Ekwulobia Street in the Cimac Estate, after so many years. In her words, ‘I’m particularly happy because the patch work looks very solid and I know it will last for a long time because of the quality I see them working with. It will also reduce the accident rate on our street. My only appeal is that the government should also look at our gutters and assist us with a good drainage system as the gutters are not wide enough and were filled up with sand which causes flooding during the rains. Since they have remembered to repair our roads, I pray that they will also help us with the drainage so that the roads will last.’
In reaction to this, Engr Okoye averred that it was a situation already handled by the state government by the establishment of a new department, Drainage Cleaning and Forest Protection Agency which had the singular responsibility of desilting all drainages. His words: ‘it’s really important as it will help make our roads durable. We had a situation when we went to work at Dike Street. We didn’t know that there was a gutter there until we found out that it was covered with sand. The agency had to desilt it before we commenced our work. I assure residents that the problem of poor drainage will be a thing of the past as the department in charge, headed by Mr Chido Obidiegwu has already started work’.
He confirmed that contractors were aggressively carrying out patch works in Onitsha North/South, Nnewi North/South and so many other local government areas, while ARMA handled Awka Metropolis with the aim of meeting up with the set target of filling every pothole in the state capital before Christmas.
Recall that the governor promised to bring in Durapatchers that will aid the agency to work better and faster. That promise has been fulfilled and the Durapatchers have since been deployed to three different locations in the Awka Metropolis in the past few weeks and will continue to work even beyond the Yuletide, Engr Okoye assured.
About 30 major roads in the Awka metropolis have already recorded zero pot holes so far and these include Roban road, Udoka Estate, the Awka South LGA headquarters road, through the Prisons road, Aroma to Ifite road, the Amaku Hospital road to the Amaenyi market axis, Club road, the Ultimate Plaza road all the way to the popular Y Junction, the Crescent Springs road, and the St Thomas Aquinas road axis, the Best Western Meloch road, among so many other roads in the state capital, all thanks to ARMA.
He expressed his joy at the pace at which the work was ongoing and assured Ndi Anambra that the quality of the roads was super durable and would stand the test of time. He explained that the Durapatcher produces only stone and bitumen for fixing the roads which ensured durability, even as the asphalt used remain the best as they are produced by one of the best asphalt plants in Anambra state, Tamad.
He assured Ndi Anambra that the state would be devoid of the usual traffic caused by bad roads because of these massive palliatives done by ARMA. He also promised Anambra indigenes coming in from far and wide this Yuletide, that there will be ease of traffic as the state has provided traffic officers and maximum security for that purpose.
