Some commercial drivers, plying the Port Harcourt –Aba axis of the Expressway, have appealed to the Rivers State Government, to extend the operation zero pothole programme to Oyigbo in order to rehabilitate the road.
Speaking to The Tide recently, some of the drivers said the bad state of the road from Oyigbo to Intels had taken a toll on their vehicles.
The drivers complained that the road was barely motorable during the rainy season.
“The bad road from Oyigbo to Intels has created a persistent traffic hold-up due to the potholes throughout the stretch of the road”, one driver said.
One of the drivers, Mr Uche Maduka said often times, lorries like tipper fell while trying to manoeuvre through the area.
“If it rains, we find it difficult to find our way through and sometimes, we pass through Owerri to get to our destination”, a tipper driver said.
While acknowledging that the road belongs to the Federal Government, the motorists however, expressed the hope that the governor would come to their aid.
“The state government is trying in fixing most of the federal government roads in the state despite the economic downturn.
“We believe that Governor Nyesom Wike, is a people friendly governor, so we hope that before the rains fully set in, he will come to the rescue of travellers who use the Aba-Port Harcourt expressway”, they said.
It could however be recalled that Abia State government recently flagged off the rehabilitation of its stretch of the road.
The Port Harcourt-Aba East-West road is owned by the Federal Government.