By:Nkemchukwuyem Nwanyaha.
The Speaker of
the State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon Monday Igbuya has commended the
member representing Ethiope East Constituency, Hon Evans Iwhurie for
drawing attention to the deplorable states of federal roads in Delta
State.
The
Speaker who gave the commendation during plenary said virtually all the
federal roads across the state are in a very bad shape and have been
left unattended to by the authorities of the federal government.
Rt
Hon Monday Igbuya said it was gratifying to read the petition written
by the member representing Ethiope East, Hon Evans Iwhurie to the
federal ministry of works for immediate reconstruction and repairs of
two federal roads in his constituency.
The Speaker stated that the move was a welcome development as deltans and other road users in the state were suffering.
He
charged other members to emulate such step, saying that bombarding the
federal authorities on the worrisome state of the roads might help to
getting the desired help.
Hon Evans Iwhurie had in a petition entitled "REQUEST
FOR THE IMMEDIATE RECONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR OF EXTREMELY DILAPIDATED
TWO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT ROADS IN ETHIOPE EAST CONSTITUENCY" and addressed to the Minister of Works, Housing and Power, Babatunde Raji Fashola, drew attention to the states of SAPELE – EKU – ABRAKA – AGBOR – EWU ROAD AND ABRAKA – UGO-EVBOESI – BENIN ROAD and asked for urgent intervention.
Addressing
reporters in his office at the State House Complex, Asaba, Hon Iwhurie
regretted that both roads were awarded during the administration of
President Goodluck Jonathan with mobilization paid but the contractor
abandoned the work.
The Lawmaker stated that the two roads are strategic commerce routes in his constituency, noting that the economic
impacts that would arise from their repairs and reconstruction will
yield significant effects on the overall economy of the people.
Hon Iwhurie said it was gathered that the Federal Government awarded, mobilized and flagged off Benin – Abraka Express Road at the cost of N30 Billion and the dualization of the Sapele-Agbor-Ewu road in Delta and Edo States at the cost of N112.8 Billion.
The lawmaker said relying under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, he has respectfully requested
the Minister to provide him with the documents of the contract awards,
showing the total cost of the contracts, names of the contractors,
deadline for completion of the projects and every relevant documents in
support of responses to the request.
Hon
Iwhurie said he has taken further steps by involving the great citizen
friendly initiatives in his constituency and that they are currently
pioneering the implementation of an online complaint system for issues
such as this and will continue with the advocacy until the roads are
repaired and reconstructed.
He disclosed that they are also using the globalchange.org platform
to bring people to the understanding of the severity of the plight and
issue of the Sapele – Eku – Abraka – Agbor-Ewu and the Abraka –
Ugo/Evboesi - Benin Roads and the need to get the Federal Government
attention.
Hon Iwhurie said over 2000 Signatures gathered on the online platform were attached to the petition.
The lawmaker expressed optimism that the move will yield positive results.
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