The federal government says all palliative repairs on bad spots of Federal and state roads within Anambra, Ebonyi and Enugu have been ongoing smoothly and seamlessly.

The federal controller of Works in Enugu, Smart Okpi, said requests had been made and approval granted for contractors handling various roads to effect repairs on failed spots/portions without further delays.

Mr Okpi said that the project tagged ‘Ember Months Repairs’, started some few weeks ago with some bad spots of the single lane of Enugu-Abakaliki Road, which started from the New Market Roundabout, Enugu, being fixed.

According to him, when the bad spots on the New Market Roundabout-FRSC-NYSC-All Saints Church axis of the Enugu-Abakaliki Road were fixed by the contractor handling the dualisation of the road, most residents thought it was the state government doing it.

“We also have ongoing work on bad spots on 9th Mile-Opi Road, 9th Mile-Nsukka-Obolloafor Road and 9th Mile-Amansea-Awka Old Road, being done by the contractors handling the various reconstructions of these roads.”

Mr Okpi said the Ministry of Works remained committed to making all Federal roads in Enugu State good and motorable to ensure ease of travel on the roads before, during and after the yuletide.

Enugu works commissioner Gerald Otiji said that Governor Peter Mbah had turned the state into a huge construction and reconstruction site, as the government had embarked on fixing all urban roads.

Mr Otiji noted that all bad spots of critical link state roads had been given quick intervention, adding that the government had also given attention to federal roads serving Enugu residents.

Some newly inaugurated council chairpersons in Enugu flagged off the construction and reconstruction of rural roads and the expansion of pathways to make them motorable and check insecurity. 

In Ebonyi, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) said it had launched ‘Operation Connect to your Destinations’ on the Abakaliki-Enugu highway as part of efforts to checkmate the deplorable condition of roads ahead of the yuletide.

Akinyemi Ojo, a maintenance engineer for the federal government in Ebonyi, said FERMA was committed to road repairs for expectant travellers as Christmas drew closer.

He listed some highways, including Abakaliki-Afikpo and Abakaliki-Ogoja-Cross River border.

Meanwhile, the Anambra portion of the dual carriage Enugu-Onitsha expressway has become a one-way movement following the construction of the Enugu bound lane between Onitsha and Immigration junction in Awka.

Checks in the area revealed that the Onitsha bound lane remains closed due to ongoing construction work and the total failure of some portions, which had degenerated due to gully erosion.

The stretch from Odumodu junction to Igbariam is deserted as a result of total failure, while Igbariam to Ukpo is closed to traffic owing to construction work. From Immigration junction to Amansea, the Enugu-bound lane is closed. 

Traffic has been diverted to the Onitsha bound lane for about a decade now, while the existing side has collapsed because of excess axial load.

(NAN)