By Ifeoma Ekeke

For long motorists and commuters complained bitterly, albeit impotently, about the many pot-holes that dotted almost every stretch of some  roads in Port Harcourt metropolis and environs. Observers attributed the  development to the upsurge in the number of cars plying the roads following a sharp rise in population then. With this, road congestion suddenly became a regular feature leading, in experts’ estimation, to  the sudden collapse of road infrastructure.

Besides, it was also believed that many of the road infrastructure currently existing in the city of Port Harcourt were either those constructed in the early years of the state creation or the ones built by benevolent military administrators who ruled the state for almost 35 years.  So, it was not surprising, according to experts, that when the state started expanding as the ‘oil city’ of Nigeria, the old decaying road infrastructure could not carry the vehicular load.

But just when long-suffering motorists and commuters had almost given up hope and resigned themselves to the daily nightmare that driving through these bad roads represented, help appears to have come at last, courtesy of the State Ministry of Works which recently unveiled an interventionist scheme named ”Operation Zero Pothole”.  The scheme is said to have been initiated by the Ministry in response to the inability of the Road Rehabilitation Committee, hitherto charged with this responsibility to cope with the challenge.

One of the fixed roads

With the roads caving in daily due to age and stress, the Ministry of Works headed by Dakuku Peterside swung into action.  First, it had reportedly commenced massive infrastructure development across the state and by today had  constructed over 840 kilometres of paved roads in the state, including the rural areas.

This year, however, there seems to be a major departure from the usual “spot and fill” tactics which Peterside acknowledged wasn’t yielding much result.  The first method adopted by the Ministry was the demarcation of the state into five zones manned by five dedicated contractors to oversee all rehabilitation exercise.

But speculations are rife presently as to whether this time the Ministry would achieve its objective of ridding the state roads of pot-holes and restoring the almost lost glory of Port Harcourt as the Garden City of Nigeria?  Mr. Peterside’s response to this is to  say that this year a new approach would be adopted and that it would involve the public. Apart from the monitoring group, members of the public are expected to send text messages to dedicated numbers, the essence of this being to

offer or express useful suggestions on how the objective can be met without let or hindrance. Those who have access to the internet also have a a mail address to send their messages to.

The commissioner further disclosed that “Operation Zero Pothole” covers federal roads as well, but observed that “our primary concern is the feeder roads …”, adding: “ The idea is that during this rainy season we would not experience any pot hole. We would not experience any flooding and we would not experience any drainage problem. We are determined and I am sure we are going to achieve this”. As an expression of its commitment to the project, government is said to have approved the sum of N1 billion for it.

Meanwhile,  government’s road rehabilitation gesture through the “Operation Zero Pothole” scheme is already beginning to attract accolades from members of the public in Rivers State and beyond. Some members of the public who hailed the state government for the timely intervention said it would reduce the growing traffic jams experienced in Port Harcourt in recent times. President of Ogoni Media Workers, Comrade Godwin Williams called on the authorities to spread the exercise to the outskirt, which, most times, are abandoned during such operations.

Comrade Williams also tasked the Ministry officials to ensure that qualified contractors are used in carrying out the exercise so that  public funds would be used as appropriated.

In the same vein, a private transport operator at the Abali Park in Port Harcourt, Mr. Perkins Ibifubara lauded the exercise as a quick response to the cries of motorists and commuters who have suffered untold hardship from bad roads.

Mr. Ibifubara, however, submitted that the scheme should be conducted in phases so as to ensure that all parts of the state are adequately covered. He cited the spots at Intels Junction along Port Harcourt-Aba Expressway and another one at Artillery Junction as those that require urgent attention.

For Mrs. Rita Pokubo,  the exercise would save motorists the pains of plying some routes in the city. In her words: “It is the road that all of us use; so we are extremely glad that something is being done about the affected roads”.

While calling on the contractor in charge of the zone that covers Ada-Gorge/Wimpey and Ade-Gorge by Agip Junctions to mobiles to site, Mrs. Pokubo expressed the hope that respite would come the way of car owners when the roads are properly fixed.