Anambra Assembly Committee on Works visits ongoing road project in Okpoko

Mon, Apr 17, 2023

By editor

2 MIN READ

Africa

By Chizoba Okeke/ Anastasia Agunwa/Gloria Abugu

THE Anambra State House of Assembly Committee on Works has visited the nine ongoing road projects in Okpoko.

The Chairman of the Committee Mr. Timothy Ifedioramma (Njikoka 1) said they came to have a spot assessment of the road which project was flagged off by the State Government some months ago.

“We visited four months ago when the contractors were about to start work, now they have got to some extent, and we needed to come, to see if what is on paper is the same as on the ground.

“We observed that some of the roads are six meters for a broad road which is not supposed to be. On asking, it does appear the contractors are working on specifications given to them by the ministry.

“The committee will interface with the ministry to be sure it is a true reflection of the ministry and probably get a more detailed explanation.

“We requested a soil test to be certain if it meets with what is required on the road. Some of the roads have been asphalted and we made some little observations which they agreed to retouch before quitting the site.

“Some of the roads already asphalted include Uzii road, some part of Ede road,” Mr. Ifedioramma said.

In his contribution, Mr. Noble Igwe (Ogbaru 2) who is also a member representing the Okpoko community said he is worried about flood control since the community Is in a flood-prone area.

“We asked the contractors if an environmental impact assessment was conducted, to know how to manage the volume of the flood that flows through these roads,” Mr. Noble said.

The site engineer, Mr. Nazeer Aridi noted that they have a lot of unsuitable materials because some of the roads used to be refuse dump areas.

“We had to evacuate a lot of unsuitable materials on the road before construction commenced and we are still removing them and that is additional work that is not included in the contract.

In attendance was the former assistant secretary of the Okpoko community, Mr. Eze Echieteka who said they are happy with the ongoing road projects and thanked the governor for remembering the community.

He however complained about the drainage system noting that some areas of the community ought to have bigger and wider drainage systems because of the flood (MOI)