Ebonyi State Governor David Umahi yesterday called for immediate financial intervention from the federal government to tackle the landslide ravaging Ogwuma Eddah community in Afikpo South local government area of the state.
It would be recalled that another landslide at the weekend occurred at the retaining wall of Ogwuma section of the road from Iyere flyover in Afikpo South local government area of the state.
Governor Umahi made the appeal yesterday shortly after assessing the extent of the landslide which blocked a section of the road leading to Ohafia in Abia State.
Governor Umahi announced plans to clear the road within seven days to enable government know the best next line of action.
He insisted that all those inhabiting across the retaining wall would have to be evacuated for the retaining wall to be reconstructed to stand the test of time.
Governor Umahi noted that with the assistance from the federal government, his administration will swing into action to save the road users from the untoward hardship.
“This is Ogwuma, a section of the road after Iyere flyover. It has been totally blocked by landslide, and since 2004, we have been having very serious landslide here.
“In fact, I lost one of my workers here about 2008 during the construction of a very heavy retaining wall which is what sustained this road from 2008 till few days ago.
“As you can see a lot of houses have sprung up there and so this had to disturb the ecosystem of this section of the hill and the effect is what you see.
“The road has been blocked and it is going to take quite a lot of efforts to even unblock the road, before thinking about how to reconstruct very long section of retaining wall”.
