Residents, Motorists Decry Failing Eleme Axis Of East-West Road

The deplorable state of the East-West Road has compelled residents and commuters travelling through Aleto-Alesa section in Eleme Local Government Area of Rivers State to raise the alarm.
Many of them are describing the route as a death trap.
Some of them who spoke with The Tide Metro lamented the deplorable condition of the road, calling on the relevant authorities to act quickly to save them the agony of travelling through that section of the road.
One resident, who gave his name as Godknows Osaro regretted that for 15 years, the road has been in that bad shape, explaining that the failed section of the East-West Road, which is connected by a bridge from Eleme to Port Harcourt, is stressed by the weight of several vehicles including heavy duty trucks belonging to companies there traversing it.
Said Osaro, “Multinational companies are operating in Eleme. The high degree of vehicular movement is due to the presence of multinational companies. In Onne, we have Nigerian Ports Authority, Chevron, and Nigerian Customs, among others. In Eleme, we have
the refinery, and the biggest fertilizer producing company in West Africa, Indorama Petrochemicals.”
“That failed section of the East-West Road is a death trap to humans. On a daily basis, people die; either a container falls on a vehicle or failed vehicles run into the river.”
Osaro said the state of the road is near “comatose”, as he highlighted some factors responsible for the deplorable situation.
“The very first reason why that road is still like that is bad leadership both at the federal and state levels. Rivers State is regarded as the best State because of the presence of crude oil, and the centralisation of the multinationals.”
“Both past and present administrations failed to realise the importance of that road and the plight of the people, not just the company staff members, but the business people and market women.”
He noted the issue of poor community relations, asserting that companies in that axis should have taken the reconstruction of the failed section as a corporate social responsibility since their vehicles are commuting there on a daily basis.
“What they have been doing over time is a remedial work; some parches which can only bear for months”.
He believed that some of these companies can come together and fix the road because they are the major commuters of the road.”
Osaro blamed the communities for failing to draw the attention of the government and multinationals to their plight, noting that inducements, which are mostly handouts to these community leaders by the companies, have remained a major cog in the wheel of mobility for development.
“Many community leaders’ children are outside the country and so they are not bothered about what is happening; whether people are dying on a daily basis; not looking at the common good of the road.”
He recalled that last year, while Senator Godswill Akpabio was Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, the contract for reconstruction of the East-West Road was awarded, but alleged that some selfish politicians frustrated the efforts of the contractor to mobilise to site.
The Tide Metro learnt that the contract for reconstruction of the road has been awarded to RCC for full commencement of work on that road, but the problem is that the rate of the work is too slow.
Speaking also on the issue, an indigene of Akpajo who preferred anonymity, said the road has been like that since she was born, stressing that “till now,
nothing has been done. My mum cannot go to Agbonchia to sell because too many times she has been involved in different accidents”.
A market woman, who also pleaded anonymity, begged the relevant authorities to come to their aid, saying that “there’s never a day that road does not get busy. I have tried leaving my house as early as 4am so that I don’t have to encounter traffic on my way to the market because it can be so tiring”.
“But hoodlums have taken advantage of the damaged road to snatch people’s phones and bags. I don’t know what or which one to even complain about”, she said.

By: Kevin Nengia