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Raymond Ozoji, Awka
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Anambra State Road Maintenance Agency (ARMA) Engr. Emeka Okoye has assured the citizenry that they won’t celebrate Christmas on potholes because the agency is determined to fix all roads within the capital territory and beyond before the Yuletide.
Okoye gave the assurance at Ekwulobia street GRA Awka at the weekend while the agency was working on roads in the area.
He said that the promise made by Governor Willie Obiano had come to fruition because potholes were being fixed and that the quality of asphalt being used was the best of its kind, stressing that road patching was going on simultaneously across the state.
Okoye noted that his team were deployed to various streets and locations and that works would continue on the roads until the end of the dry season.
The ARMA MD added that the governor set up what he described as the Anambra State Drainage Cleaning and Forest Protection Agency to desilt gutters and prevent asphalt from being washed away by flood on account of silted drainages.
He also referred to one Dike street in Awka where he said the drainage system had been blocked completely with refuse but explained that the agency had desilted the gutters and that maintenance works were currently ongoing such that when the road would be completed, it would no longer be subjected to flooding and eventual damage.
Okoye recalled that road patching and maintenance within Awka metropolis commenced immediately the rains subsided, noting that the same palliatives applied to Onitsha-North and South, Nnewi-North and South and other local government areas across Anambra state.
He said other contractors were handling roads in the North and South senatorial zones but the Anambra State Road Maintenance Agency handled roads in Awka in the Central senatorial district, adding that the aim was to ensure that no single pothole was seen in Awka metropolis by Christmas day.
“We are doing asphalt patching. We are also patching with the Dura patchers acquired by Governor Willie Obiano. Three of them are working in three different locations and they have been doing that for the past three weeks. They will continue to do that till Christmas and indeed after Christmas,” the ARMA MD explained.
According to him, about 30 major roads in Awka metropolis were currently pothole-free, stressing that Roban road, Udoka estate roads, Ngozika estate roads, Works road, Obinagu road, Amaku hospital road, Ifite Awka road, Club road, Uche Ekwunife and a host of other roads have been fully patched within Awka metropolis.
Okoye therefore maintained that the palliative works on the roads would stand the test of time because the materials being used for patching were a combination of stones and bitumen and that the asphalt was equally got from TAMAD Construction plant.
He however stressed that Ndi-Anambra returning home for Christmas won’t sleep on the road on account of bad roads but on account of heavy traffic congestions even though he allayed their fears, saying that traffic management agencies were equally on ground to respond to the situation.
