Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State has charged Abia State Environmental Protection Agency (ASEPA) and the Traffic and Indiscipline Management Agency of Abia State (TIMAAS) to quickly set up waste management/traffic taskforce to sanitise Aba, the commercial hub of the state.
The task force will, among other things, ensure that residents do not dump refuse in drains and form illegal motor parks in Aba.
The governor gave the mandate at the weekend during the commissioning of the newly reconstructed Ojike lane, Chisco link road, Eziukwu road and Milverton avenue, all in Aba South Local Government Area of the state.
Ikpeazu stated that his administration’s interest in rehabilitating the roads is because of their economic benefit, stressing that while Eziukwu road leads to Eziukwu Market, Milverton Avenue is at the centre of Aba inner city, as virtually everybody that comes to Aba must get to Milverton.
He said the road has been bad for the past 20 years and appealed to residents and business operators in the area to protect the drains.
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“Don’t block the drains, as it may lead us to our old ways. Nnamdi Azikiwe once said, ‘Mind your business and mind how it affects others’. We’ll not allow anyone to use his selfish interest to spoil this road for us,” he said.
John Okiyi-Kalu, Commissioner for Information, observed that the commissioning of the roads has revived many dead businesses that could not survive several years of negative effects of the bad roads.
He recalled that many banks in the area nearly left, noting that what Governor Ikpeazu is doing is to fix roads that have economic value in Aba, as a way of injecting life into small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and industries.
He explained that the government has completed about nine roads since December 2020, noting that work is ongoing in 52 other construction sites.
He expressed confidence that the governor would soon commission a cluster of roads in Aba and Umuahia.
“And we’ll return to Aba to commission Enyimba Automated Shoe Factory, along with Aro-Umuechem Asokwa road. We’re working at Okpulo-Umuobo to see how we can connect it to Obingwa LGA headquarters.
“All these are happening because this governor cares for those who elected him into power. We’ve also taken over the Opobo road, part of the Ikot-Ekpene highway. Inasmuch as it’s a federal road, there are no federal citizens here; those making use of that road are Abians,” he stated.
