By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—Bayelsa State Government,has   pleaded with the Federal Government to take over the roads in its three senatorial districts,  which are expected to gulp N120bn,  if the state is to benefit from the proposed coastal roads.

The state Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr. Emmanuel Frank-Opigo,  who made the appeal while fielding questions from newsmen in Yenagoa, said the Federal Government’s development of coastal areas will not be of any use to the people of the state without the completion of roads in the three senatorial districts.

Bayelsa is predominantly riverine while none of its far flung communities could be accessed by road, making the completion of the senatorial roads designed to link the communities on the Atlantic fringe imperative.
Opigo called on the Federal Government to assist the state in the completion of the road projects in the three senatorial districts, that cut across some rural communities to alleviate the plight of the people.

“Our appeal is that the Federal Government should take over the roads in the three senatorial districts,  which are expected to gulp N120bn,” he said.

Adding that the proposed coastal road project,  which passes through  the Niger Delta States from Calabar to Lagos in the South West may not be beneficial to Bayelsa because the state has no road linking it to the highway.

He said though contract for the Nembe-Brass road was awarded last March, the contractor had not been mobilised due to the drop in the state allocation from the Federation Account.

The Commissioner also cited the Amassoma-Ebeni-Sagbama-Ekeremor linking the West senatorial district to mainland Yenagoa,  where Setraco had to stop work on the Ebeni Bridge due to funding problem.

Engr. Frank Opigo, who blamed delays in execution of major projects in the state on unavailability of funds and militancy, said that the state has been facing financial drought for  the last 18 months.

“We do not have money to fund projects in Bayelsa, so we can not execute most of the road projects that are dear to our people,” he said.

He announced the termination of the contracts awarded to three indigenous contractors over non performance.