By Dennis Udoma

UYO—The project design for the completion of section 5 of the East-West (Oron-Calabar) High-Way by Amana Consortium Limited and Etteh Aro and Partners, has commenced from Akwa Ibom to Cross River State.

One of the roads under construction

This is coming, after a lull on the project, which, according to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani Uguru Usani, was to allow time for a review of the project since the immediate past administration, it was alleged, re-awarded the project in dollars and also need for alignment for some economic reasons.

The Project Consultants led by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Amana Consortium Limited, Lagos, Mr. Edet Amana, disclosed this in Oron, yesterday, when he visited the paramount rulers in the area led by HRM (Offong) Odiong Akan and his Cross River State counterparts, Ndidem of the Quas, HRM Patrick Oqua Agbor and Obong of Calabar, HRM Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu V, to inform them of their commencement of work on section 5, of the East-West (Oron-Calabar) High-Way project.

According to him, “We are here to intimate the elders and the people of the host communities that work on section 5 of the East-West Road project would start.  We don’t want our personnel trying to do their work on the road to encounter community resistance.”

That is why we, the consultants and those who would be working on the road are seeking your royal blessings so that, as you bless us, we would go about doing our work peacefully.”

Engr. Amana who spoke on the project said that the East-West road (Federal Trunk A2) is a dual carriage way which stretches from Warri in Delta State to Calabar, and will link up with Ikom (Federal Trunk A4) at Odukpani in Cross River State.

The road construction, he maintained, had been divided into five sections; section 1 to 4 are currently at different stages of completion, while section 5 (Oron-Calabar) is being designed, hence the flag-off by the companies.

Explaining the significance of the Federal Trunk Road A2 to the royal fathers, he expressed delight that, the road will serve as a transit corridor for the movement of heavy equipment for oil exploration and production in Chad Basin, as well as become one of the most used road in Nigeria.

Others include; providing the much-needed direct link, not only between Oron and Calabar but, the heavily industrialized, import and export terminals in the Niger-Delta region (Warri, Port-Harcourt, Onne, Ibaka Deep Sea-port), the Middle Belt region, North East States and the Western Cameroons.

He promised to bring excellence and national commitment to bear on the project, as well as deploy for the first time in Nigeria, drone technology in the planning and designing of high-ways,  adding that, the drone when operated at a height above the buildings and other obstacles along the road corridor,  would provide annotated documentation in real time for a review at the designer’s convenience.

The Paramount rulers of Oron, HRM (Offong) Odiong Akan, Ndidem of the Quas, HRM Patrick Oqua Agbor and Obong of Calabar, HRM Ekpo Okon Abasi Otu, who spoke seperately, commended the delegation for the visit and assured them their support.