Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has officially flagged-off the reconstruction of the long abandoned Igwu River Bridge, popularly called Omenuko Bridge.
Flagging- off the project at Ozuabam in Arochukwu Local Government Area, Gov. Otti said that though the bridge is located on a federal road, his administration is committed to working for the people, not minding whether such projects belong to federal or state governments.
This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by his Chief Press Secretary, Ukoha Ukoha.
“What we are doing as a government is that anywhere, that we see that work needs to be done, we don’t wait for people to ask us, we begin to do the work.
“You can be sure that your government which is a very responsible government will attend to them,” Gov. Otti stated.
He explained that his government missed out the project in 2024, with a thought that the bridge has been awarded by the federal government.
“The first thing that happened was that we missed out this bridge from the 2024 budget and the reason is simple.
“We thought that the bridge had actually been awarded as claimed by some of our brothers but unfortunately, on further enquiry, we found out that the information was not correct.
“So, we now started struggling with the adjustment of the budget and virement,b and we have just been successful with it.
“One thing that is clear is that before we start any project, we already have plans to fund that project. I am glad to report to you today, that the money that is required to complete this road project is sitting somewhere waiting,” Gov. Otti assured.
He directed the commissioner for works to adjust the delivery period of the project from one year to nine months, saying that he had spoken with the contractor handling the project, who assured that he can deliver within nine months.
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Gov. Otti announced the approval of the reconstruction of the Abam Ring Road and the establishment of a primary healthcare centre in Abam community as requested by the president general of Abam Development Union.
“On the two requests that you made. The information available to me prior to this time is that there was at the minimum, one primary healthcare centre in every ward but today, I know better.
“As we speak, we are renovating primary healthcare centres in the state. As I leave now, I’m going to call the commissioner for health to start making arrangement to set up a healthcare centre in this community.
“The second request that you made, on the Abam Ring Road: well I’m happy to report that we have gone ahead of you. We have already scooped the ring road.
“One part of it is 7 kilometres, the other part is 16 kilometres. That’s a total of 23 kilometres and I have in the last three weeks instructed the commissioner to procure the road and award them to two contractors. So, in the next few weeks, you will see work start on the Abam Ring Road from the two ends.
