By Anayo Okoli & Ugochukwu Alaribe.

YES, contract for the rehabilitation of Enugu-Port Harcourt express road has been awarded and work is going on in some sections of the road. But it is not yet Uhuru. The Okigwe to Umuahia section can be said to have progressed well but the same cannot be said of the Enugu end of the busy road.

File photo: Enugu-road

From the NNPC Mega Station in Enugu metropolis, dangerous portholes, some of them unavoidable, still dot the two lanes of the road which have been inflicting huge wears and tears on vehicles on this road with the attendant cost effect on motorists.

However, rehabilitation work has commenced and is ongoing, though at a very slow pace, from Mgbowo in Agwu Council section of the road. It is being handled by Chinese Company and their contract extends to Lokpanta Army check point, at the Abia State boundary with Enugu State.

As already observed, work on this Enugu section is moving at snail speed and only one lane is being worked on. Worst still, the company does not deemed it necessary to open any repaired portion for public use hence exposing motorists to series of road crashes as only one lane is in use from Mgbowo up to Abia boundary.

While work on the Enugu section is slow, same cannot be said of the Lokpanta to Umuahia section of the road being handled by Setraco. The two lanes from Urum Quarry, Umunneochi junction in Abia State up to Ihube junction in Imo Srate have been completed and since opened to public for use. Also, the two lanes from Okigwe junction up to Ofeme, in Umuahia have been completed and opened for use and serious work is going on in one lane of the road from Ofeme to Umuahia tower.

However, there the stretch between the Lokpanta Army check-point and the cattle market up to Urum Quarry junction is still a big nightmare to motorists plying the road. The worst part is the Lokpanta Cattle Market where the two lanes are almost impassable as they are completely dilapidated, which often create serious traffic gridlock that lasts for several hours, especially when it rains.

The situation is compounded by trucker drivers from the North who convey cattle and other goods to the market who after offloading their goods double-park the long vehicles on both sides of the lanes making it more difficult for motorists to maneuver their way out of the dilapidated road.

It is pertinent to note that two massive trailer parks, one on each lane, were constructed by the Federal Government for the trailers to be parked. The parks are not being used by the drivers, rather they have been over grown by weeds and turned to toilets, with the attendant health challenges they pose to the residence of the area.

Saturday Vanguard learned that the Hausas at the market had severally resisted attempt by the construction company to remove the indiscriminately vehicles on the road and move the traders inside the market to enable them work on this section of the road which they said has very bad soil texture and needs thorough work and expertise.

Work on the Umuahia-Aba axis being handled by Arab contractors is also going on well. The two lanes from Umuahia tower to Ubakala area of Umuahia have been completed and opened for public use. But one sore area is the spot in Ubakala which Abia State Government Waste authority used as refuse dump where refused overflowed to completely cover one lane of the road.

The company is now battling to evacuate the refuse and work on the road as the Government has closed the dump site. And work in the stretch from that former dump site is progressing well up to Umuika junction.

However, the story is quite different in the Aba end of the road. The stretch from Ariria junction in Aba metropolis up to Abia boundary with Rivers State, could best be describes as death traps as no one pole of the road is motorable.

The Aba to Port Harcourt section of the road is at best a death trap. This section is in total state of disrepair forcing motorists to meander through bad portion filled with gullies. The situation is always worsened whenever it rains as flood takes over the road.

Saturday Vanguard observed that the construction company handling the rehabilitation of the road, Arab Contractors Construction Company, has its equipment on site from Umuahia to Arungwa in Osisioma Ngwa council area of Abia State, but work appears to be moving at a slow pace. Some of the workers on site at the Arungwa area declined to speak to our reporters.

Greater part of the sections of the stretch between Arungwa and Aba has been chopped off by deep gullies. And the part of the lane from Arungwa to Umuikaa had been closed to traffic due to ongoing rehabilitation works which is not moving on fast. The situation has led to auto crashes as motorists struggle for right of way.

On August 21, a truck conveying flour to Aba was involved in an auto crash with a bus due to bad spot at the Arungwa area. Over 7 persons lost their lives in the crash. The bus loaded with about 15 passengers was damaged beyond repairs as men of the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC and sympathizers, struggled to separate the dead from the injured.

Unit Commander, RS9.32, Kilometre 78, Assistant Corps Commander, Ezenwa Basil, said five passengers died at the scene of the crash while one later died at the hospital. Ezenwa, blamed the crash on the dilapidated condition of the road as well as the closure of the other by the construction company.

He said, “This is the second auto crash in two weeks on the same spot. This is due to the dilapidated condition of the road. Only a lane of the road is being used by motorists while the other has been closed to traffic by the construction company. Even the only lane has been dilapidated that motorists now struggle for the right of way, leading to crashes.  People have continued to lose their lives due to the dilapidated condition of the lane. We are appealing to the construction company to hasten their work and reopen the other lane to save lives. People are dying, daily”.

A resident of Umuikaa community, Elder Monday Nwogu , lamented the slow pace of work by the construction company, stressing that the closure of a lane of the road in the area has led to auto crashes, especially during night hours. He urged the construction firm to remove the barricades on the roads until they are ready to resume work.

The worst section of the Enugu –Port Harcourt expressway is the stretch between Ngwaiyiekwe in Ugwunagbo council and the Imo gate at the border between Rivers and Abia States. Motorists travelling from Aba to Port Harcourt now go through Owerri-Nta in Abia State and divert to Ngor-Okpala junction in Imo state to get to Igwuruta, Rivers state. Buses travelling to Ahoada in Rivers and Bayelsa now ply the Port Harcourt–Owerri road to Elele, Rivers State.

A commercial bus driver, Okey Williams, plying the Aba-Port Harcourt route told Saturday Vanguard: “From Aba to Port Harcourt, it is easier for us to travel through Owerri-Nta and divert at Ngor Okpala to Igwuruta, and drive to Port Harcourt. The road from Ngwaiyiekwe to Asa and to the Imo gate border is simply a death trap. Even when you get to the Rivers state side, the stretch from the Abia border to Oyigbo to the former toll gate is also bad”.