The World Bank assisted flood control project that cuts across 17 communities in three Local Government Areas of Akwa Ibom is to be completed in July this year.
The project which is executed by Akwa Ibom State in conjunction with the World Bank is expected to check flooding in Uyo metropolis and its environs.
Governor Udom Emmanuel who made this known while speaking in Uyo, the state capital said “every community must have a taste of his administration’s Completion Agenda,” a programme containing the major projects to be executed by the state government.
The 8.4km drainage project which is being undertaken under the National Erosion Watershed Management Project(NEWMAP) has already created hundreds of jobs for youth in the affected communities.
According to the governor, the massive work is ongoing from the state Civil Service Secretariat in Uyo, the state capital to the Mechanic Village, Atan Offot, Ring Road 2 to Aka Etinan through Goodluck Jonathan Boulevard and eventually to the outfall of the drainages network at Mbikpong Ikot Edim in Ibesikpo Asutan local government area.
The project which is believed to be the biggest flood control in the state will also have mini-water schemes, and bridges built to provide succour to most of the affected communities.
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“It takes a government that is sincere about the well-being of the people to accept a drainage project like this, where massive funds are buried underground without any trace once the project is completed”, Charles Udoh, Commissioner for Environment and Mineral Resources was quoted as saying about the project.
Udoh who led a team of engineers to inspect the project assured that before the “end of March, the entire tunnel would have been linked to ensure water that comes with the rains does not pose a threat to residents of the adjoining communities of the project.”
He disclosed that over N25 billion has been spent by the state government in the last couple of years with at least 2000 young Akwa Ibom people working in various flood control locations across the state.
Other flood intervention projects include Etim Umana erosion project, Anua Offot (behind St. Luke’s Hospital), Ikpa Road, Uyo Village Road, Calabar – Itu Road among others.
Most parts of Uyio metropolis are often prone to flooding during the rainy season with many households usually displaced.
The IBB flood control project is one of the key projects that is expected to add value to the environmental programme of the state government
