Politics
THE Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Marcel Ifejiofor, has blamed indiscriminate dumping of refuse and poor termination of some roads for the emergence of gully erosion in some of the towns in the state.
The commissioner made the observation during the maiden `Meet the Media,’ a platform created by the Media Team of the Government to X-ray insights into government development projects.
“It is in response to anomalies in poor termination of roads and other inadequacies that at inception, the government set up a design review committee. This is one of the major causes of gully erosion.
“What is happening in Aroli-Obeleagu axis of Onitsha and the 100 Foot Road, Nnewi were typical cases caused by broken drainage. Once the water gets broken water begins to flow and create a gully.
“Basically what this design review committee does is to redesign some of the roads in order to ensure that all roads and drainages are terminated at a natural body of water.
“Anambra has Alluvial soil texture; it is loose soil; this means that we are careful in coming up with designs that take the soil texture and natural flow into consideration that it is channeled to nearby water bodies.
“Luckily I am chairman of the committee. There are other commissioners on the committee as well as stakeholders. In addition, we are working with a consulting outfit M-plan; they are among the biggest in the industry within the South East of the country.’’
“They are working with us and so, by the time we finish what we are doing we must get value for any jobs awarded in Anambra State, both in terms of costs as well as serving its purpose,’’ he said.
The commissioner said that he had always renewed a call on Ndi Anambra to note that indiscriminate dumping of refuse and other such activities have always had adverse effects on the roads and environment.
“There is always a synergy in the operation of the Works Ministry and those of the environment,’’ he said.
Ifejiofor noted that for some reason, some build on drainage channels and this is bad.
When we observe this, we notify the appropriate Agency of government to act promptly by removing such buildings or infrastructure to pave the way for the natural flow of water.
On issues relating to some junctions in the state, where palliative works have yet to be completed, he pledged to persuade the agency in charge – the Anambra Road Maintenance Agency, ARMA, to see to that such patching should be effected.
“This will help to preserve the structure and aesthetics of such roads,’’ said Ifejiofor.
– Jul. 8, 2020 @ 11:15 GMT |
Tags: Commissioner blames indiscriminate dumping of refuse poor termination for ecological problems
