Delta State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has proven not to mince words in his resolve to attract meaningful development to Delta state, particularly, infrastructure and urban renewal.
The governor’s determination was made more manifest for residents of Ibusa Road (Koka Interchange axis) where the governor between Living Faith Church also known as Winners Chapel reconstructed the road with drainages on both sides.
The road before Oborevwori came on board was an eyesore as it was flooded whenever it rained, typically leaving motorists and other road users dumbfounded and lost.
It became more worrisome when landlords and other residents decided to fence their properties to prevent rain water from gaining access into their compounds.
Worst still, was when the land opposite the Winners Chapel, was acquired and earnest construction work started particularly with the filling of the land.
The action of the owner, pushed the water into the road and the once managed road, became a nightmare.
It should be placed on records that the stretch of that road from Ibusa Junction on Nnebisi Road to Koka Junction on the Asaba-Onitsha road has been resurfaced by past governments but it only last for some months only to be washed away by rain.
It was as if it was a dream or better still like one of those projects embarked upon by government, no one took it seriously when the contractor was mobilized to site and work started.
However, succour has come the way of the people as the government of Oborevwori has taken the bull by the horns by taking the necessary action.
The contract was to downstream the Koka Interchange to take water from the adjourning streets to a natural canal that had been de-silted by the state government.
But when the governor came to inspect that project, he noticed the floods on this part of the road.
Therefore, he decided that there was a need to address the challenge that residents were subjected to whenever it rained”.
That necessitated another 1.3km added to the original contract length of 1.5km of drainage.
The project, titled ‘’Construction of a Drainage Channel” from the Koka Flyover through Agbalusia-Ngene Street, Dominic Okobi and Engr. Egbuniwe Street to the discharge drain at FCE(T) Asaba in Oshimili South Local Government Area’’ measures a total length of 2.8km.
When the Commissioner for Road, High ways, Comrade Reuben Izeze, visited the road, he said: “It is part of the ongoing consolidation of what was done in the Asaba metropolis by the previous administration. Governor Oborevwori promised Deltans MORE and that is exactly what he is doing.
“Without any fear of equivocation, the governor’s vision will come to fruition at the appropriate time and Deltans will be the ultimate beneficiaries’’ he said.
Izeze added that the estimated time for the completion of the project was six months, adding, ‘’I believe, from what I have seen so far, that before the end of that estimated time, the contractors would have completed the project’’
Accompanied by the Director, Urban Roads, Engr. Solomon Akpotohwo, Hon Izeze assured that the state government would not tamper with private properties in the cause of the project without having compensated the owners.
No wonder in his budget presentation, the governor said: “we will prioritize infrastructure development as a key driver of economic growth and social development.
“We will invest in critical sectors such as transportation, energy, water, and telecommunications, with a focus on expanding access to underserved areas and improving the resilience and sustainability of our infrastructure”.
He capped it up with the sum of 150 billion naira earmarked for Ministry of Works to execute capital projects in the forthcoming fiscal year.
Residents once dreaded the road whenever it wants to rain, however, today, residents now wants the rains to come, it is the rain that now dreads residents as it doesn’t want to drain anymore, since Oborevwori, stamped his feet on the portion of the road.
However, residents, traders and shop owners at Umuagu altar, Ogbesowe and other adjourning streets particularly BYC Junction are earnestly waiting for the governor to come to their rescue.
Whenever it rains, residents are sacked by flood water, shops are overflowed, transporters, particularly tricycle operators and other road users are scared to use the road to avoid being swept away by flood.
However, it is believed that the storm water project is majorly about de-flooding the city, other projects like the one done to de-flood Ibusa Road should be replicated at BYC Junction which is of equal importance to the well-being of the people, economy and growth of the state.
