FG pledges Aba-Port Harcourt Expressway completion

The Federal Government has assured completion of a section of the 41.4kilometre PortHarcourt /Aba Express Road before the end of March to ease vehicular movement before the rain comes. The section covers the four lanes out of the eight-lanes of 7 kilometer in the 41.4kilometer ongoing PortHarcourt /Aba Express Road from Oyigbo to Eleme junction.

The 41.4 kilometer is section four of Enugu- PortHarcourt road project being handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) The road was re-awarded in 2015 but stalled due to delay in the approval of funds for compensation and removal of obstructions.

However, findings by The Guardian shows that the work has accelerated since the dry season, the two kilometer of eight lanes of the project from Imo river to Oyibo in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers State has been completed but the residents have appealed to government not to relent in the speed of work to avoid them suffering again this year when the rains come.

But the Controller of Works in the State, Mr. Johnson Fadire, said the Federal Government is poised to complete a -four-lane, two-lanes each from both side of the roads to ease the transportation problems in the urban towns .

Fadire, who spoke during a tour of the project said, “ You can see, work is seriously going on here, from Imo river to Oyigbo, the eight lanes have been completed and if we say we will complete the remaining eight lanes from oyigbo to Oil mill junction, it will take longer time and the rain may hit us, so that is why we decided to tackle the transportation problems faced by the people especially during the rains by concentrating to on the four lanes first so that people will be using two lanes from both sides of the road before April this year”.

“The Contractor has assured us that between now and March ending, he would complete seven out of the nine kilometer of Oyibo to El eme junction which will end at the old city gate, that is just after the toll gate, so they are working very hard, taking advantage of the clement weather for the achievement of the four-lane for the 9 kilometer stretch from Imo River to Eleme flyover”, he added.

The Director High Way,South-South, Godwin Eke, said, giving the challenges of road constructions in the Niger Delta region, and the amount of rainfall last year, the project was slowed but he expressed satisfaction on the progress of work so far.

He said, “there are certain things you cannot do under the rains and we are aware that the rains last year was extreme but there is progress,we assure the road users that the project would be completed by 2020.”The Project Manager, CCECC, Mr. Zou Xiaowei, also, promised to deliver the project on time.