RIVERS State Government has said it would no long tolerate severe damages done to major roads it has constructed with huge funds due to reckless parking by trucks owned by the BUA Group and others operating in the state.
The State Commissioner for Works, Dr George-Kelly Alabo, and that of the Ministry of Transport, Dr. Jacobson Nbina expressed the government’s anger on Friday over the development as they toured sections of roads being damaged by some of the trucks.
Areas inspected include Azikiwe Road where the BUA Sugar Refinery is located in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area (LGA), roads at Igwuruta and Igwurutali communities, Ikwerre LGA where BUA has an off-factory operational base and Diesel Yard where a stretch of shoulders on the roads, including the lanes have been ruined.
Works Commissioner, Alabo said, “It is public knowledge that the Rivers government spends billions of naira every year, and labors hard to provide critical infrastructure for our people. BUA Group has been so reckless, the drivers so irresponsible that they have converted our major roads to parks.”
He noted that the Igwuruta road is one major route leading to the Port Harcourt International Airport and neighboring states, lamenting that further damages would collapse the road and worsen hardship for the people.
The Commissioner for Transport, Dr. Nbina said in February, the BUA Group was invited to a meeting with the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), the Ministries of Transport and Urban Development where commitment was extracted that Bua would cease using public roads as parks.
He said it is shocking that the commitment wasn’t kept, instead the deliberate damages to the roads by the company’s trucks linger, adding that the government would no longer tolerate such acts.
Source: Vanguard
