One side of Ossah 6-lane road ready by Christmas, Otti assures

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

Photo

 Gov Alex  Otti and the contractor’s during the road inspection

Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has assured that one side of the Okpara Square -Ossah – Tower six-lane road expansion project would completed by this Christmas season.

Governor Otti gave the assurance while inspecting ongoing construction work on the road on Thursday, saying “I have been assured that, at least, one side would be ready for commuters to use during this Christmas.”

He said that he was optimistic that with the onset of of the dry season, work the contractors would 24 hours on daily basis to ensure that the work was delivered within the time frame.

The Governor explained that he was motivated  to begin the expansion of the road to six lanes from the initial four lanes to check traffic congestions on the road, especially during festive seasons. “If you are familiar with this road, every festive season, people get stucked; expanding the road to six lanes would help traffic. We know what our people wanted. The essence of government is to deliver on what the people want and people are happy because we are actually speaking to their needs and that’s what government is all about,” Otti said.

According to him, “on daily bases we have more and more people who want to move out of Umuahia and Aba to bring their businesses back, so we are forward-thinking and forward-looking, so we are already planning for them as they relocate.”

H assured Abia people that many good things and development plans were in the offing for them.

 “These are still early days, as time goes on we are going to touch on different aspects of the needs of our people, that’s why we are here: to ensure that the welfare and security of our people are prioritized,” he added.

The Governor used the opportunity to apologized to those who have been inconvenienced by the expansion of the road, saying: “To those who have been inconvenienced by the restrictions of traffic on this road, we want to apologize to them and assure them it wouldn’t be too long before they begin to enjoy free-flow of traffic. 

 “A lot of people’s houses were affected and we have already paid compensations to them. I understand there are a few more houses that got enumerated after the first compensations have been paid, we are looking at that to ensure that we also pay compensations before we bring down those houses.”

 Governor Alex Otti, who was happy with the pace of work, thanked the Commissioner for Works and his team, as well as the contractors, for their efforts and  stressed the need for people to be patient with the state government on the road, assuring further that it would be completed in a short while.