The Abia state government says it will soon begin the payment of compensation to the owners of structures marked for demolition ahead of the reconstruction of the Ossah Road in Umuahia.

The state government has been holding consultations with property owners on both sides of the major road to Umuahia, off the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.

The government said that work would soon commence to expand the road by one more lane on either side.

Giving an update on the project on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Okey Kanu, said that 150 structures had been marked for demolition.

Mr Kanu said this at a news briefing on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting at the Government House, Umuahia.

He said that the decision to expand the road from four to six lanes was to ease traffic and enhance the aesthetics of the state capital Umuahia.

He said that there was no going back on the project, adding that the demolition, which ought to begin on Monday, was shifted by three weeks.

The commissioner said that consultations between government and the communities affected by the project were still ongoing and had yielded good results.

He said that the notice on how much compensation to pay to the owners of the marked structures would be made public soon.

Also, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Chaka Chukwumerije, said that the structures marked for demolition on the Ossah Road had been enumerated and evaluated.

Mr Chukwumerije said that the compensations would be paid in tranches.

He said that the essence of postponing the demolition date was to give the affected persons enough time to relocate, pointing out that the government was “not in a hurry to demolish but to develop”.

(NAN)