Abia State Governor, Dr Alex Otti, has announced that a section of the ongoing construction of the 6 Lane Okpara Square-Ossah-Tower road would be completed this Yuletide.
Governor Otti who made the announcement during an inspection of the ongoing construction, expressed happiness with the pace of work, and assured commuters of a usable section for Christmas.
The Governor noted that with the setting in of the dry season,work would continue 24 hours on a daily basis to ensure completion of the road within the stipulated time frame.
He explained that he was motivated to begin the expansion of the road to Six lanes from the initial four lanes due to the congestions experienced by commuters during festive seasons and noted that the expansion would alleviate traffic.
Governor Otti while highlighting the government’s commitment to meeting the people’s needs, outlined plans for accommodating businesses relocating to Umuahia and Aba.
“If you are familiar with this road, every festive season people get stuck, 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 about.
“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. We are already planning for them as they relocate”.
The Governor assured Abia people that many good things and development plans are in the offing for them saying; “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, (in government) to ensure that the welfare and security of our people are prioritized”.
Governor Otti expressed regret for inconveniences caused commuters by the restriction of traffic as a result of the road expansion, and assured affected a swift return to normal traffic flow.
He said that compensation has been provided to those whose houses were affected and added that ongoing efforts are on to address additional cases before any further demolitions.
“A lot of people’s house 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”.
He thanked the Commissioner for Works, his team, as well as the contractors handling the project for their efforts and urged residents to exercise patience as the road nears completion.
