The Rivers State Executive Council has approved N80.9 billion to construct the 33.5-kilometre-long Elele-Omoku Road.

The permanent secretary, Ministry of Works, Atemea Briggs, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the council’s meeting, presided over Governor Siminalayi Fubara, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.

Mr Briggs said the project would be funded from the state’s Internally Generated Revenue savings.

He said the project would traverse the three local government areas of Ikwerre, Emohua and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni.

Mr Briggs said it would be completed within 24 months of the commencement date, adding that the road would be expanded from its current 7.3-metre width single lane to a dual carriageway.

“The proposed road width is 7.8 metres, to be asphalted fully, with a 2.5-metre-wide road shoulder.

“I would like to mention that along this road, we have several kilometres of low land, wherein to build a road shall require replacement, filling of the ground by more than three metres high.

“The contractor can only achieve it through hydraulic sand filling and laterite. And you know how costly these are,” he said.

Mr Briggs further said a 99-metre-long bridge would be built on the road side-by-side with the existing one between Egbeda and Omoku.

Ine Briggs, the acting director-general of the State Bureau of Public Procurement, said all the road projects undertaken by the present administration “scaled through due diligence and quality assurance, duly certified for delivery to Rivers people.”

The Commissioner for Health, Adaeze Oreh, also spoke on the success of the accreditation conducted by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria at the State College of Nursing Sciences.

Ms Oreh said the state nursing school was recently upgraded to the College of Nursing Sciences, with its admission capacity increasing to 142 per cent in addition to the 400-capacity classroom block constructed for midwifery and nursing students.

She said upgrading the primary healthcare system with modern facilities would enhance healthcare services in the state.

Also, the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Warisenibo Johnson, said the state exco agreed to set up a five-member committee comprising the commissioners of agriculture, urban development, permanent secretary of lands and surveyor-general to deal with land-grabbing issues.

(NAN)