By Chidi Nkwopara

OWERRI—Imo State government has appealed to the citizenry to exercise patience over the current traffic gridlock in Owerri metropolis, occasioned by the road rehabilitation work embarked upon by the administration.

The Special Adviser, SA, to Imo State governor on Sanitation and Transport, Chief Willy Amadi, made the appeal on behalf of the state government when Vanguard sought his views on the chaotic traffic situation in the capital city.

Gridlock caused by road rehabilitation

“The traffic situation is largely caused by the massive road rehabilitation work currently going on in the city. Government is aware of the problem the citizenry is passing through and it is addressing it,” Amadi said.

It was his considered opinion that apart from the rehabilitation work, government was also concentrating on the inner and outer ringroads which cut across the local government areas in the state.

Amadi, who is also a member of the Road Rehabilitation Project Monitoring Committee, equally disclosed that government had mapped out where fly-overs would be constructed within Owerri metropolis.

“The state government is, for now, concentrating on the roads in Owerri because by December this year, more taxis and buses would be procured by the government to augment the existing ones,” Chief Amadi said.

He also assured that by December this year, the government would have successfully solved 70 percent of the traffic problem in the capital city in line with its determination to make it second-to-none in terms of free flow of traffic.
 
Chief Amadi, therefore, warned contracting firms executing the jobs to be honest and work in accordance with government’s specifications and deadline