The federal government has said it is deploying the use of reinforced concrete technology on the long-delayed East-West road, which traverses the South-south part of the country, to ensure that segments of the road do not fail again.
Minister of Works, David Umahi, who spoke during an inspection of the project, explained that the government will give all regions the right environment to attain their full economic potential and guarantee a sense of self actualisation.
A statement in Abuja by the minister’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji, quoted Umahi as saying that he had introduced a more formidable measure of construction to end pavement failures and years of infrastructural neglect on the highway.
Umahi visited section II of the road, comprising Kaiama-Ahoada in Rivers/Bayelsa states as well as the construction of multiple box culverts at flood-damaged locations along the “dualisation” of the road.
The minister’s remarks came weeks after the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP) and former agitators in the Niger Delta threatened to embark on a protest over the uncompleted axis of the road.
MOSOP, in a statement signed by its Public Relations Officer, Imeabe Saviour, said the non-completion of the road had led to a series of accidents, resulting in loss of lives.
It stated earlier in July, “It is worrisome to mention that despite the substantial revenue generated within the Ogoni ethnic nationality, the stretch of the East-West road in our area has remained in its worst state, dilapidated and a nightmare to travellers and a death trap to the Ogoni people.
“It suffices to state that the East-West road, hyped as completed, still stands as an abandoned project today.”
Similarly, former agitators in the Niger Delta region threatened a massive protest over the deplorable state of the road. They alleged that the project had been abandoned, despite the fact that it led to critical national infrastructure, like the Onne port, the Port Harcourt Refinery, and Indorama Eleme Petrochemical Limited, among others.
But speaking after the inspection, Umahi said the federal government had redesigned the inherited project, using reinforced concrete technology to end the perennial pavement failures and years of road neglect across the wetland Niger Delta.
He said some sections of the road, starting from Lokoja to Benin, were also re-scoped and redesigned in reinforced concrete. He explained that the height of the road was increased above the flood level.
Umahi added that the redesign factored the peculiar environment, “geomorphology” and soil characteristics, which were responsible for the failures of flexible pavement used over the years by successive administrations.
“A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets.”