…As Transporter Laments State Of Road

As the deplorable condition of the East-West Road in Rivers State continues to attract public attention, a transporter and public analyst, Hon. Ben George Odon, has described the road as a death-trap.

Hon Odon, who bared his mind during a chat with The Tide correspondent in his office in Port Harcourt last Wednesday, said the number of accidents and lives lost on that road had become so alarming that the federal and state governments should accord it the priority attention it deserved.

The transporter noted that the recent petrol tanker fire incident at Okogbe community in Ahoada-West Local Government Area during which scores of people died would have been averted if the road was in good condition, pointing out that a good road network in the area was long over-due, and called for urgent attention to forestall further lost of lives and property.

According to him, the East –West road which traversed through Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers is a major road network in the Niger Delta and indeed South-South geo-political zone.

He said the commercial and economic values of the road cannot be over emphasised, stressing that as tax payers, the inhabitants and other road users deserved to benefit from the dividends of democracy.

Hon Odon noted that a journey  that would have normally lasted for about 30 minutes, now engages motorists over hours, and also causes vehicle problems that   involves extra expenses and time due to the pot-holes and the hold-up, saying the situation is terrific.

He however called on the governments to clamp down  on any contractor that has allegedly been awarded the contract and mobilised,  but had failed to execute  the project to face the full wrack of the law as to serve as deterrent to others.

The public analyst also called for legislation restricting trucks and heavy duty trailers or tankers from plying the road users and pedestrians as a result   of their over-speeding, adding that an operational time or period should be spelt out for them as were done in other countries, while heavy penalties should be enacted to enable people go about their various activities without molestation by these heavy duty vehicles on the road.

Collins Barasimeye