The Ebonyi Government says road rehabilitation in urban areas are designed to achieve zero pot-holes in Abakaliki, the state capital and other towns in the state.
Chief Ali Odefa, Special Assistant to Gov. Dave Umahi of Ebonyi on Infrastructure stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Wednesday in Abakaliki.
He said that the road rehabilitation intervention programme was part of commitment of state government to the social contract it entered into with the electorate.
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He said that the Umahi’s administration inherited dilapidated road infrastructure from previous government.
The governor’s aide added that the administration was committed to changing the narrative by embarking on aggressive road rehabilitation on major urban roads.
He said that a number of roads within the capital city had been marked out for the rehabilitation, assuring the public that pot-holes on the roads would soon become a thing of history.
He said: “Some of the roads which were done by the previous administration which we inherited have all failed, so we are intervening on them gradually and we are taking them one street at a time.
” By the end of the rainy season, we shall do asphalt work on the rehabilitated roads, but for now, it is concrete we are using to do the interventions.
“We urge residents to be patient with the government in case they see roads with pot-holes, they should not worry because we are going to rehabilitate all the failed portions of our urban roads.
“By the end of this administration, there will not be any pot-holes on any major road in the state, including federal roads”.
Meanwhile, some residents who spoke to NAN in separate interviews, applauded the roads rehabilitation programme, adding that the interventions had eased traffic flow on major roads.
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Mr Onyekachi Nwebonyi, resident of Udensi estate said that the deep pot-holes on the Udensi Road had been patched due to the ongoing intervention.
“Most portions of Udensi Road were replete with pot-holes and almost impassable, but current interventions by government has changed the narrative and motorists now move freely on the road,”he said.
Another resident, Mr Uchenna Ugwu, a motorist said that the ongoing intervention has not only enhanced traffic flow, but has reduced road accidents within the capital city.
“The ongoing rehabilitations is a way of appreciating the electorate for voting Umahi back to office for a second time.
“The intervention is part of democracy dividends to the people and it is a welcome development for the state,” Ugwu said.
NAN reports that Onwe Road, Udensi, Akpuoha, Aniekwena streets, among others, have been rehabilitated under the current road intervention. (NAN)