The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) says it has begun re-constructing the failed portion of Essene–Edemaya road in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The Engineer in charge of federal roads in the state, Mr Nkereuwem Asuquo made this known to newsmen last Wednesday while inspecting the construction site.
He blamed shoddy construction for the failure of the  previous interventions on the road.
Asuquo expressed optimism that the road construction would be completed within two weeks, adding that the re-constructed road would be long-lasting and durable.
According to him, the agency is also carrying out vegetation control on the Ikot Ekpene–Itu/Cross River border road.
“We are working on the Essene spur to Edemaya.
“The reason why we chose that road is because the main alignment from Abak to Ette, there is a collapsed culvert and we know that road is a very busy road because it takes a lot of heavy vehicular movement.
“Most of those heavy vehicles take materials from Akamkpa to most part of the state and even Port Harcourt.
“There is a collapsed culvert at a point, and most vehicles now take a diversion through the Essene spur to Port Harcourt and that portion is very bad, so we decided to do an intervention there.
“Our people are on site working. If that road closes to traffic, there is going to be a big problem because that is the only road that links to the East–West Road; that is why we chose to work on that road.
“We are also doing vegetation control on the Ikot Ekpene–Itu/Cross River border road. The people are there working,” Asuquo said.
The road which serves as a link to the East–West road is the only alternative route from Akwa Ibom to Rivers but has been closed to traffic because of on-going repair works on some failed portions of the road.
Also, Mr Sola Omimago, the Site Engineer supervising one of the failed portions of the road by Akama Catholic Girls High School, Essene, said underground water was responsible for the frequent collapse of the road.
He said that the removal of underground water and the excavation of 1.5 metres of soil from the bad portion of the road had solved the problem of the road.
The site engineer further said that poor funding and lack of standard equipment for road excavation was the major challenge faced by the agency.
He called on the host community to cooperate with the agency in maintaining the road by taking care of the drainage, and ensuring that it is not blocked.
“This road is an important link road off Ette –Abak road to East–West Road.