By Chidi Nkwopara, OWERRI.

Commuters along the ever busy Owerri-Umuahia and Owerri-Okigwe federal highways yesterday, commended the management of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, for commencing reconstruction work on the dilapidated portions of the two roads.

The bad portions of the two roads include Awaka and Ezeogba, Emekuku in Owerri North local government area and Ekemele, Akabo, Ikeduru local council area of Imo State.

Speaking to newsmen at the Awaka reconstruction site, the contracting firm’s Site Engineer, Mr. Alaa Assaf, promised that he would deliver the job within 10 days.

“This is no longer a road. Our job here is to construct a completely new road at this and other bad spots. We should be out of this place within seven or 10 days”, Assaf said.

A commuter, who identified himself as Izuchukwu Ugochukwu, recalled that he has not been able to visit his aged parents in the last two months because of the hopeless nature of the road.

“It is a thing of joy that NDDC has commenced work on the hopeless portions of this road”, Ugochukwu said.

He recalled with grief, how more than six vehicles broke down at the deep portions of the road last Tuesday.

“A 16-seater commuter bus was submerged at the bad spot at Awaka. Passengers had to engage the services of youths to lift them on their backs, from the bus to safe grounds”, Ugochukwu recalled.

While commending Senator Sam Daddy Anyanwu for “relentlessly drawing the attention of the NDDC management to the road”, Ugochukwu also heaved a sigh of relief that “commuters nightmare will soon be over”.

At the Ekemele axis, a female villager, Mrs. Augustina Iwuala, described the reconstruction as “a great relief to commuters and residents of the area”.