Indigenes of Umeh community in Isoko South local government area of Delta State and Okobe in Ahoada West local government area of Rivers State have lauded the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for repairing the damaged sections of the East-West Road.
In an interview at the Umeh section of the road, near Patani, an indigene of the community, Mr Alex Ifure, said the prompt intervention of the NDDC was the saving grace for his people and commuters who had suffered for many weeks on account of the devastation caused by the flood.
In a statement issued yesterday by the NDDC director of corporate affairs, Ibitoye Abosede, the commission said Ifure expressed satisfaction with the restoration work being done by the construction company engaged by the NDDC to carry out emergency repairs on the road, which he noted was their only link to Bayelsa and other Niger Delta states.
He lamented that, apart from the road, the flood also destroyed their farms, leaving the farmers with nothing to take to the markets to sell and feed themselves. “Look at our market, it is scanty because our people have lost their crops to the flood.”
Also, the Umeh Market Master, Comrade Emmanuel Ogberiegbe, said that if NDDC had not come to their rescue, many people would have died of hunger because the people were predominantly farmers.
At Okobe community, the traditional ruler of Igbuduya Kingdom, Eze Ikaki Ikaki, said his people were happy that the NDDC intervened to ease their pains from the devastation caused by the flood.
He said, “This is what we expected, I say kudos to NDDC and the Federal Government. We also expect the Commission and the various levels of government to engage us in discussions to work out a lasting solution to the perennial flood.”
The traditional ruler advised the contractor to deliver a quality job, regardless of the urgent nature of the emergency repairs, noting: “This section of the road needs a bridge not culverts. It is obvious that the small culverts cannot take the volume of water on the road whenever a flood hits.”
A motorist interviewed at the repaired section at Okobe, Comrade Inyang Victor, appealed to the federal government to look for a lasting solution to the flood problem, which he said was taking a huge toll on the lives of the people in the affected communities.
Similarly, a commuter from Bayelsa State, Mrs Esther Austin, said she was pleasantly surprised at the quick intervention of the NDDC in the wake of the collapse of the East-West Road at several points.
The project manager of SETRACO, Engr. Michel Issa, said the company had worked round the clock to ensure that the road was motorable. “We mobilized our equipment to the very bad sections as soon as NDDC engaged us. We have successfully restored the very bad sections of the road.”
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