Nigeria

Enugu airport shutdown: Fix Owerri-Uga road - Lawmakers tell FG

Thursday, November 21, 2019 at 6:02 PM by Jerrywright Ukwu

- The House of Representatives has called on the federal government to commence repairs on the Owerri- Uga road

- The lawmakers said there is a need for the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to urgently undertake remedial work road

- Speaker of the House, Ahmed Wase, also mandated the committee on works and housing and appropriation to ensure compliance on the repairs

Lawmakers of the House of Representatives on Thursday, November 21, appealed on the federal government to begin repairs on the Owerri-Orlu-Idoato-Uga road.

The lawmakers said with the ongoing renovation work ongoing at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, there is a need for the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to urgently undertake remedial work road.

Following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Chigozie Obi of the Action Alliance party, Imo state, the House of Representatives urged the federal ministry of works and housing to include dualization of the road in the 2020 budget estimate

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While ruling on the motion, the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Ahmed Wase, mandated the committee on works and housing and appropriation to ensure compliance.

Wase said that with the shutdown of the Enugu International Airport, the pressure on the road was enormous and if urgent efforts are not made the people of the south east states would suffer untold hardship.

In the motion, Obi had said that the closure of the Enugu airport by the federal government had imposed heavy traffic on the road which links several local governments headquarters in Imo state.

Obi said the effect could constitute further hazards to communities and villages in Ideato federal constituency.

He said the Owerri-Orlu-Ideato-Uga federal road links the capital of IMO state through Uga to Awka, the capital of Anambra state.

He also worried that the stretches of the road from Orlu-Mgbee-Umuchima-Obioha-Urualla have collapsed, with devastating gullies, on both sides of the road.

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Obi said: "The government of Imo state under the leadership of Senator Rocha's Okorocha had executed projects and made appreciable efforts in this regard but the unintended over-flooding arising from the destructive climate change, destroyed some of the works to unimaginable proportions"

According to Obi, the grave devastation on the road, including the collapse of Umuchima-Mgbee bridge as a result of excessive erosion as well as the none continuation of the expansion and dualization project on the road.

He said the high death rates from accidents and other minor mishaps, especially on TJ collapsed bridge linking Mgbee (Orlu) and Umuchima, including the ravaging impact of the erosion menace.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the minister of finance, budget and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said most of the bad roads in Nigeria are not the responsibilities of the federal government but those of the states.

The minister said N650 billion has been released for capital projects in the 2019 budget as it works to develop the country through the Ministry of Works and Housing.