Compelled by the poor condition of federal roads in Rivers State, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) says plans are underway to kick start fresh roads repairs.
Currently, it says a study is being carried out on the two major federal roads and major access into Rivers State namely: Aba/Port Harcourt Expressway and East West Road.
The plan was made public by Mrs Sandra Nnakwe, who represented the agency’s zonal director at a one day workshop on maintenance culture organized by the National Orientation Agency in Rivers State.
Mrs Nnakwe who is an in-house engineer with FERMA said the agency had commenced work on how to channel water, the major problem, which she explained, is affecting most parts of Aba Road.
“If the water is channeled properly, she stated, “most of the craters seen on the road would be patched, we have discovered that the problem is drainage and so if manholes are created for water to flow then it would be easy to maintain the roads”.
She added that FERMA is planning to provide alternative channels to desilt and drain the expressway, and that when the rains subside, main repairs would be done.
On the East-West Road, the FERMA official said maintenance works could only be conducted after the rainy season, stressing that currently, the road is under-going expansion.
Meanwhile, a lecturer in the social science department of the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Dr Lucky Eleanya has called on government to sustain the Private /Public Partnership in road maintenance.
Dr Eleanya while speaking on the topic, ‘Road Maintenance Culture’ at a workshop organised by NOA to raise awareness on facility maintenance observed that many lives are being lost to bad roads in the country.
For the menace to be tackled, he advocated for a special fund to be set aside for road repairs and upgradement.