The Rivers State Government has been urged to rescind its decision on the construction of a 50.15-kilometers ring road project, describing it as a timed bomb waiting to explode.

The Public Relations Secretary, Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, Rivers State Chapter, Njoku Sopuruchi, who faulted the government’s plan to construct the project, noted that ring roads are not supposed to pass through densely populated areas but through new cities to bring expansion.

He told The Guardian that the government ought to have mapped out the areas and acquired lands for the project about 15 years ago to avoid unnecessary demolition and damages.

The ring road project, which Governor Siminalayi Fubara described as a “legacy project” and contracted to Julius Berger Plc at the cost of N195 billion is expected to pass through neighbourhoods like Diobu, Ogbogoro, Rumosi, Rumuekini, Eagle Island, Uzuoba, Mgbuoba Mbodo Aluu, Ikwerre road among others.

Former Governor Nyesom Wike had during the flag-off of the project last month, said his successor will not only connect communities but will expand the landscape of the state and unify residents with the road network.

Sopuruchi said: “The government should have used the fund to open up new cities and new towns and not to scatter areas that are already congested and full of activities. Population is so dense in these areas they want to demolish and when you open up these areas and allow trucks and trailers to pass through them, the trucks and trailers will fall and cause hardship for residents”.

He also urged government to stop ongoing demolitions but identify the second phase of the ring road and acquire the lands to avoid destruction in future.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Rivers State Civil Society Organisation, Enefaa Georgewill, said, it was disheartening that the state government was not putting into considerations the existing hardship caused by the removal of fuel subsidy and implementing projects that would worsen the sufferings of the people.

He said: “The fuel subsidy has already brought so much pain to the people and our attention has been drawn to business owners, residents whose shops and houses will be demolished as a result of the ring road proposed by the Rivers State government. These people were asked to vacate their shops and houses without adequate notice and compensation plans to manage their livelihood.”

He advised government to put a human face to the policies in the State, adding that government at all levels should avoid any action that will compound the devastating condition of citizens.

On his part, Alex Madu said: “I just paid my house rent for two years in Elabuchi, Diobu in Port Harcourt and just six months into the payment, I received the notice to leave that government wants to construct road, where do I go from here?”

A resident who sells goods in the area, Mrs. Agnes Akpan Diobu, said the information to vacate her shop has left her family in myriads of thoughts.

A landlord in Uruala Street in Diobu, Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of the State, who lamented exclusion from the compensation meeting said, infrastructure development is not supposed to bring hardship but to improve the quality of lives of the people.