By Okey Maduforo
About ₦300 million would be spent on the intervention work at the Onitsha- Owerri express way that was destroyed by gully erosion at Oba in Idemili South local government area of Anambra state.
Recall that the flood from Idemili river in the last four years have been eating deep into the earth crux of the road and has ultimately created deep gully erosion in the area and has also destroyed a great part of the road.
In the last three months the destroyed portion of the road has become a death trap for motorists and other road users hence vehicles now search for other routes to by pass the gully.
Speaking during the inspection of the road the Commissioner for Works Engr Ifeanyi Okoma said that the state government had to commence work like intervention while expecting the response of the Federal government.
“Yes the intervention work would take about N300 million and His Excellency Prof Charles Soludo had to come and stop the road from collapsing further and we are going to stop the erosion because this is the peak of the raining season” he said.
Also speaking the Chief Of Staff to the governor Mr Earnest. Ezeajughi urged
the federal government to declare a state of emergency on erosion menace in Anambra State.
“We have over a thousand active erosion sites in Anambra State. This is just one of them. We are acting on emergency.
“Because the Onitsha-Owerri road by Oba erosion wash off is a major devastation, we are not waiting for the federal government, even though it is their responsibility”.
He said that the people bearing the hardship are Anambra. people, as such, Anambra State government embarked on intervention to arrest the situation before other measures.
Continuing the works Commissioner Okoma said that they observed that the progression was high, which made the engage a contractor to stop the progression.
“We are in talk with federal ministry works and Federal Road Maintenance Agency, FERMA and they are already on it. But it will be a long process.
“We don’t have an option, we moved a contractor that will continue with the second objective, to stop further mudslides”, Engr. Okoma said.
He explained that it is an emergency situation but no formal co tract has been awarded for the work, stressing that it will be done pending the approval of the federal government.
The Commissioner for Environment, Engr Felix Odimegwu noted out that Anambra is the erosion capital of the Country and asked the federal government to also increase ecological funding in Anambra State.
“We all know that Anambra is the erosion capital of Nigeria and it is only fair and just that our ecological fund should be increased by the Federal government in order to accommodate the countless erosion sites across the state” he said.
