By VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA—ANAMBRA State Government has issued a seven-day ultimatum to road contractors working in various parts of the state to repair damaged pipes or be prepared to face the wrath of the law.

Commissioner for Public Utilities, Mr. Emeka Nwaukwu, who handed down the warning yesterday, while conducting newsmen round some of the damaged water pipelines, frowned on a situation where the contractors recklessly destroy the pipes in the course of working on the roads and pretended as if nothing happened.

Describing the act as sabotage, the commissioner said it was unethical in the construction industry for any contractor to embark on any construction work without recourse to the public utilities ministry of that state for clarification and guidance in areas they were to operate.

He said: “On several occasions I had had to appeal to the construction firms through the ministry of works to cross check with my office before embarking on any construction work in order to avert such problems. Regrettably, the contractors never obeyed the instruction.”

“Many of the materials destroyed by these contractors were imported and the action of these contractors have adversely affected water supply in the affected areas for a long period of time.

“Before this development, many homes had started getting water from our water schemes, but as incident continued, water supply in the affected areas was disrupted.
According to him, some of the affected water schemes are located in Amawbia, Nimo and Agulu which supply water to no fever than 30 communities.

The commissioner called on communities where water projects were sited to take possession of the projects in view of the enormous investment in that sector by the Obi administration, adding that if they took charge of such projects, the contractors working in their communities would be ore careful.