The House of Representatives lawmaker representing Bomadi/Patani Federal Constituency, Rep. Nicholas Mutu has assured the people of Akugbene community in Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, that a permanent solution will be found to end the erosion menace affecting the community.
Rep. Mutu discloed that the contract for the shore protection and reclamation works to protect the shores of Akugbene community from coastal erosion will be reawarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
The lawmaker who paid a working visit to Akugbene community following a devastating landslide in the area, said the project would provide a permanent solution to the incessant coastal erosion ravaging the community.
He said that ”Akugbene has been plagued by coastal erosion over the years. The recent landslide is one amongst numerous previous incidents
”To permanently address this challenge, I succeeded in getting the NDDC to award a contract for shore protection and reclamation works to protect the shores of the community from further erosion.
”Unfortunately, this project suffered some setbacks largely due to design defects. The NDDC engineers who designed the project assumed a flat river bed across the banks of the community.
“The bill of quantities prescribed a uniform length for all the pillars, failing to factor in the varying depth across the various segments of the waterfront.
“This defect was only discovered when the contractor mobilised to the site and commenced work. You can see some of the pillars in some sections of the community.
”I have, in collaboration with the contractor, engaged the NDDC to redesign the project to address the identified defects.
”Though the process has been painfully slow, I am glad to report that considerable progress has been made by the NDDC engineers.
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”God willing, the project will be reawarded, and this will put a permanent end to this erosion menace.”
The lawmaker hinted that he had mobilised personal resources to deploy two dredgers to the community as a stop gap measure to ameliorate the problem pending when NDDC will reaward the contract and mobilise the contractor to the site.
Rep. Mutu stated further that he has gotten the NDDC to also award contracts for the sandfiliing of some parts of the community.
”My long-term vision for the community is to expand the frontiers of the community beyond and away from the shoreline by building infrastructure in the hinterlands.
“This includes the ongoing Bomadi- Gbaregolor- Akugbene- Ezebiri Road,” he said.
