Erosion, flooding necessitates building more roads in Okpanam, says Okowa

Delta State Governor, Ifeanyi Okowa has said the state government embarked on the construction of more roads and stormwater drainages in Okpanam to check erosion and floodwater from the community into Asaba.

Okowa stated this after inspecting 28 internal roads in Okpanam, spanning over 11 kilometres and 20 kilometres of drainages, which have been completed and ready for commissioning.

He stated that the government embarked on the projects after a careful study and explained that tackling erosion and flooding in Okpanam necessitated the construction of the roads.

He cautioned the people against dumping refuse in drains to avoid blockage of water channels, noting that several civil servants reside in Okpanam, which made it imperative for the government to provide amenities for them and others living around the capital territory.

“As a government, it is our duty to provide for those within the capital city. We have been tackling major erosion and flooding challenges in Asaba and most of the water normally flows from Okpanam.

“In the study that was carried out, it was clear that beyond the storm drainage projects being embarked upon, we really needed to pave as many roads as possible to slow down the effect of siltation, which was also causing a lot of problems, otherwise the major drains that were constructed will become silted in a short while,” he stated.

He assured that more roads would be built in Okpanam, stressing that the state government decided to build the very critical roads from the study “even though Okpanam is a very big town and there are still unpaved roads, but as we progress, we will continue to consider paving more roads.”

“You realise that we have a lot of work on our hands because so many towns and villages in Delta State have to be developed in all the senatorial districts.”