Bayelsa State government has reiterated its desire to link riverine communities in the state by road to boost economic growth in the coastal areas and give residents a new lease of life.

The state government says it will complete ongoing major projects aimed at linking rural communities in the three senatorial districts with Yenagoa, the state capital.

Dr. Kola Oredipe, Director, New Media to Governor Douye Diri, gave the assurance while conducting journalists on an assessment tour of ongoing road projects in the state.

Among road projects inspected were Bayelsa West and Bayelsa Central Senatorial roads aimed at linking communities in Sagbama and Ekeremor and Southern Ijaw Councils with the state capital.

Since the creation of Bayelsa in 1996, some of the councils, including Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw and Brass were not connected to the state capital and other towns in the state by road until the administration of Governor Douye Diri, who has already extended roads to Ekeremor town and Angiama in Southern Ijaw, while work is ongoing to connect Brass through Nembe.

Oredipe said the priority is to open up the riverine communities that are logged in water and ensure that the economic lives of the residents become more visible.

He said government has already committed huge resources to the 42-kilometre Sagbama-Ekeremor road with the construction of about six bridges across the rivers on the stretch to link communities in the councils, while asphalt work is about 80 per cent completed to save residents from rigorous travel via rivers to access other communities in the state.

He added that 32 kilometres Yenagoa-Oporoma-Okubia road, designed to open up communities in Southern Ijaw Council is already in its last phase, as work is ongoing to cross the longest bridge on that stretch from Angiama across River Nun to Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw, which has never been accessible by road.

A resident of Ekeremor town, simply identified as Charles, expressed happiness for being privileged to see the road linking the area for the first time in his life, saying the era of suffering in the river is over.

He said: “We have never seen road in Ekeremor Council all our lives, we use canoes, if we want to travel to Yenagoa, we will first cross by boat to Bomadi in Delta before moving to our state capital in Yenagoa; but now, we are enjoying road as we can drive directly to Sagbama and then Yenagoa. Even if the it has not yet been completed, we can get to several communities around us through this road.

“With this road, our crops are easily move to town for sales compare to when it was left to be rotten when there was no road,” he said.