The aide to the Deputy Senate president of the Upper
House of the National Assembly, and Candidate of the Democratic Peoples Party,
DPP in the House of Representatives, Ika Federal Constituency, April 2011
general elections, Mr. Festus Chukwuyem Okoh popularly known as Chuky Dandy has
described the assessment of the commissioner of Works, Delta State, Hon.
Solomon Funkekeme on the ongoing work on Old Lagos/Asaba road as false. Mr.
Okoh who was reacting to a statement accredited to the commissioner and which
was published in June 23-30th edition of Ika Weekly newspaper said, “I read
with great disappointment the honourable Commissioner of Works Assessment on
work on the Old Lagos/Asaba road. I am so displeased with his statement. It is
disheartening that a serving Commissioner will come to Agbor and certified that
40% of the job on Old Lagos/Asaba road has been completed. To my greatest
surprise, the level of job done is not up to 10%. This is because if you check
the length of the road from Agbor-obi junction to Emuhu junction you will
discover that it is only 10% that has been done. Or is the commissioner telling
us that from College of Education junction to Abraka road junction (traffic
light) is 40%. Even if he is adding the already constructed Orogodo River
Bridge to be part of the work done it is still not up to 40%. I am so
disappointed that an honourable commissioner will come to Ika land to lie to
the people. And he was accompanied on that visit by our own people who showed
him round. That is why I keep asking the question, who is under developing Ika
land, Agbor in particulars.”
Mr. Okoh stated that by the assessment, the
commissioner has insulted the integrity of Ika people, stressing that the state
governor and stakeholders in Ika land should go and check the road to know
whether the commissioner should be believed or not, saying for a serving commissioner to be telling lies
publicly he wondered where Delta State is going to
Mr Okoh went further to say, “the shoddy, substandard,
unprofessional, dirty, shaky, rubbish and inconsistent job being done by the
contractor handling the old Lagos/Asaba road is very disappointing and
unacceptable. In fact, the contractor is taking the communities of Agbor and
Owa for granted as if there are no people in the communities who can see the
kind of the shoddy job they are doing. In other words, they are insulting our
intelligence with the deceitful nature of the job they are doing.”
The former House of Representatives candidate argued
that from all observations and indications, the shoddy are substandard
implementation of the Old Lagos/Asaba road contract, cannot withstand one rainy
season after which everything would be washed away and Ika residents will start
suffering all over again from the troubles of bad road
He pointed out “the rubbish work being done to include
very narrow drainage in most areas; substandard drainage that cannot stand a
little shower of rain let alone heavy down pour in the nearest future; pieces
and bits of dirty patched slabs with sand fill. The unprofessional and shoddy
arrangement and poor finishing, is very painful, unacceptable and must be
resisted.”
He said “to even worsen the whole thing and make us
look stupid, the construction company is bulldozing everywhere without proper
planning and consistency, thereby, leaving almost everywhere on the road
shattered, disorganized and uncomfortable for residence in the construction
area. The places that have been bulldozed have been abandoned with no immediate
follow up of job and the next moment, they are somewhere else bulldozing and
demolishing without immediate follow up, thereby, leaving the poor residents
and traders helpless.”
Mr Okoh maintained that because of the shoddy job of
the contractor, there are a lot of refuse littered every where in the gutters
and on the road, yet nobody is talking about it
Mr. Okoh however concluded , “in the consideration of
all of the aforementioned and as above analyzed on the implementation of the
old Lagos/Asaba road, it is therefore pertinent that we demand the Delta State
government to, review the job and have the so called contractor make necessary
amends, else, it will be an impression that the Delta State Government Ministry
of Works does not wish Ika people well by engaging an unprofessional
construction company to handle the construction of a major link road in
Ika.
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