*insists on immediate completion as rains ebb out
Eager to alleviate the suffering of the people of the Edo Central Senatorial Zone, the Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has ordered that all the road projects in the zone must be completed as soon as the rains subside.
Obaseki gave the order to Skaff International Nigeria Limited and other contractors handling the road projects, during a review of the progress report in Government House, Benin City.
He said that the over ten roads being reconstructed in the senatorial district which includes Ekpoma-Uhumudume–Iruekpen Road, Market Road in Irua, Old Agbor Road in Uromi and Ewohimi-Okaigben Road, are crucial to the socio-economic well being of Edo people, particularly the people in that part of the state.
He urged the contractors to take advantage of the increasing number of dry days as the rainy season is coming to an end, to fast-track work on the roads in the interest of farmers and other users of the roads in the district.
Obaseki assured that future road projects would be properly timed in such a manner that most road construction works start and end in the dry season.
He lamented that the heavy rains recorded this year are wreaking havoc in several parts of the country and across the globe, and slowing down the pace of several civil construction works in the state.
“Edo Central Senatorial District has several agrarian communities that produce much of the food we eat in the state and beyond. We are worried that the evacuation of farm produce may be hampered if much pressure is not mounted on the contractors to defy the rains,” the governor said.
He added that “if the roads are not fixed, truck owners would not want to put their trucks on the bad roads. This will increase the quantity of produce that will be wasted in the farms and the impact on farmers’ profit will be huge.”
The governor emphasised that the agricultural sector is key to his administration’s overall economic development plan for the state and would not condone failure on the part of any contractor handling roads and other projects.
