The Anambra Road Maintenance Agency (ARMA) says it has fully commenced the repairs of dilapidated portions of the roads in the state, totalling two million square meters.
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he Managing Director of the agency, Mr Emeka Okoye, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday, while supervising repair work at Ifite-Awka, near Awka, the state capital.
Okoye, a civil engineer said that the fixing of the roads, slated to last between November and December, was intended to make them passable during the Yuletide.
He said that the project had commenced in earnest and would cost millions of naira.
He said: “As the governor promised and directed, the repair of potholes across the state has started in earnest.
“Today, we have commenced patch work with asphalt, which will continue until December.
“In Awka here, if you go from Aroma Junction to Ifite, then Roban Road, Works Road from Zik Avenue, Udoka Road from the expressway and Club Road, you will see what we have done.
Okoye said that it was difficult to carryout asphalt work during the rainy season “because of the nature of our soil, which retains a lot of water.”
Okoye further said that the governor had set up a department that will be in charge of the desilting of the drains to ensure free flow of water and reduce the damage on the roads caused by waterlog.
“The Clean Drainage and Forest Protection, which is under the state Ministry of Environment and headed by Mr Chidi Obidiegwu has been assigned that role of desilting the drains across the state.
“Government has also engaged contractors to achieve the objective of rehabilitation and patching of potholes across the state,” he further said.
“The essence of the initiative by the governor is not only to patch potholes but to also create employment for the teeming youths in the state.
“Again, the governor found out by the World Bank standard that Anambra is the erosion capital of the world with the highest number of erosion active sites.
“This is because most of the roads constructed initially were not properly terminated.
“However, he has given a directive that every drain be channeled to natural termination of either a stream, canal, another drainage or river in a bid to reduce erosion in the state,” he said. (NAN)
