The Abia State Government has vowed to tackle the issue of flooding in Aba to guarantee durability of roads in the commercial city.

The State Governor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, raised the hope of residents of Aba of a flood-free city when he went to inspect the progress of rehabilitation work on some roads in the city yesterday. He promised that his administration would soon construct a six-kilometre canal for channeling of water from the Ifeobara Pond to Aba River (popularly known as Aba Waterside).

According to the governor, the ongoing dredging of Waterside River and massive construction of drainage system in Aba are geared towards enhancing easy flow of water in Aba.

He said that government is working hard to recover the natural water basin around Ifeobara which links roads such as Old Express, Ukwu Mango axis of Faulks road, Omuma, Port Harcourt and Uratta roads, which are strategic to Aba.

“Part of what we have up our sleeves is to recover the entire catchment natural water basin in that area, which from what we saw, has been taken up by illegal structures, some, high rise buildings,” the governor said.

“This is my way of confirming the fact that going forward, any structure that we find within the vicinity of those basins – Ifeobara and the one around Uratta – will go down. Part of our plan is to see if we can convert it to a fish pond and then give right of way naturally to water to flow into the natural basins that nature have designed as it were,” he added.

Ikpeazu explained why serious attention is being given to Ngwa Road in the commercial city.

“Ngwa Road is very, very important because we have three very strategic markets on this road. We have the New Market, Cemetery and the one at the bridge head. Ngwa Road runs the entire breadth of Aba, from Port Harcourt Road. So, if we are to recover Ngwa Road properly, it means that somebody can access Ogbor Hill from the city centre and even from Port Harcourt,” he said.

He said that the state would carry out palliative work on Port Harcourt Road, though a federal road, because of its importance.

The governor, who expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work done by the contractors so far, said that the volume of work done by his administration shows that it has the capacity to manage resources. He called on Abians and Aba residents, in particular, to pay their taxes to enable government to do more.

The roads inspected by the governor during the visit include Urata, Omuma, Old Express, Ngwa Road, Emelogu, Ehere, among others.

•Photo shows Governor Ikpeazu flagging off work on a road project in Aba.

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