Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has urged the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on East-West road and Eleme-Ogoni corridor to commence reconstruction work to end the sufferings of the road users.
Governor Fubara gave the charge when members of the Senate Ad-hoc Committee, led by its Chairman, Senator Abdul Ningi Ahmed, paid him a courtesy visit at the Executive Chamber of Government House, Port Harcourt on Wednesday.
He recalled years of deductions from FAAC account by the federal government to fund critical national projects and wondered why the East-West Road was never captured and funded, especially when it leads to locations of essential national economic assets.
The governor emphasised that the most deplorable sections of the road are not more than twenty kilometers from Eleme junction interchange bridge to Ogoniland on the East-West Road, which is not too much for the federal government to handle.
Sir Fubara enjoined the committee not to end their activities with only field assessment of the state of the road, conducting public hearing and submission of their reports, but push further to see to commencement and completion of reconstruction work on the road.
“We have always complained about the dilapidated state of the East-West Road, moreover, the Eleme junction to Onne route but nothing happened. It is a federal road, but it is my people that are suffering. So, I want to appeal to you, that it should not just be public hearing, or a question of how much was paid and not paid. You should move far from much talking to making actual commitment.”
Chairman of the Senate Adhoc Committee on East-West Road and Eleme-Ogoni corridor, Senator Abdul Ningi Ahmed informed the governor that their visit was predicated on a motion adopted by Senate over the East-West Road and that they are physically assessing its current condition with public hearing to come later, which will assist in the reconstruction of the road to durable standard.
The governor and the Senate Committee later toured the failed portions of the Eleme section of the road.