Gully Erosion Consumes Shops, Threatens Onitsha-Enugu Road

Gully erosion has eaten up 15 shops and the entrance to Ogbaru Main Market in Onitsha, Anambra State, our correspondent reports.

The erosion has also eaten up the entrance to POWA International Market and some parts of the Onitsha-Enugu Road.

Our correspondent investigation on the erosion site revealed that the depth of the gully was about 8 feet and had stretched up to the length of seven electrical poles.

The firm handling the project CCC Construction Company had abandoned the site, claiming that it lacked the funds to continue the work.

Before abandoning the work, the company had completed the stones and soil bedding work, leaving the drain channeling and flooring/asphalting.

However, the recent downpour in the city had washed away all work done.

The development had also compelled traders in Ogbaru market who had lost their shops to trade by the roadside.

Similarly, vehicles park along the remaining portion of the Onitsha-Enugu Road to load and off-load goods.

Mr. Eugene Nwanekezie, the President-General, Ogbaru Main Market Association, described the development as an “eyesore”, and a threat to the people and the environment.

He said that the association had written to the state government and the Federal Ministry of Environment on the development.

Nwanekezie said that the association had also conducted newsmen round the site with a view to sensitising the government about the problem.

He said that the market authority on its own, had spent N4 million on the site without achieving much.

“We are appealing to the state and Federal Governments to rescue us from this trap,’’ the president said.

Mrs. Chinasa Okechukwu, a trader who lost her shop to the erosion, said that she now sold her wares along the road under an umbrella.

Chief Innocent Umeh, the Coordinator, POWA International Market, said the market authorities had spent N2.2 million buying large stones and cement to check the erosion.

“But we are afraid that a downpour might wash away this temporary measure.

“We pray that the government or even international bodies will come to assist us to solve these problems,’’ Umeh said.

Efforts by our correspondent to speak with Dr Mike Egbebike, the state Commissioner for Environment, were unsuccessful as his cell phone was switched off.