Emma Amaize
13 November 2011, Sweetcrude, SAPELE- A concerned citizen in Delta state, James Idogho, has threatened to sue Setraco Construction Company, handling the construction of Port-Harcourt- Ughelli axis of East-West Road for purportedly abandoning the project awarded to the company by the Federal Government under the administration of former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Idogho, who is also a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, stalwart residing in Sapele, lamented that for many years after the contract was awarded to the construction company, it only carried out partial work on and disappeared for no just course, leaving the Ughelli axis in a complete bad shape.
He said that many motorists and travelers had on countless occasions, being involved in fatal accidents, especially within the bad areas of the road damaged by the heavy duty equipment of the construction company.
The PDP stalwart said he would head to the court in the next 21 days if the company failed to revisit the site, particularly the Ughelli axis where life has become unbearable to motorists and other road users.
He appealed to the governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan to prevail on the construction company to go back to site since Ughelli is within Delta State where he is chief executive of the state.
Idogho explained bitterly that the worst hit areas were Afiesere junction, failed portion around Mr. Biggs and part of the road from Ughelli to Bayelsa
He said that it the company could not go to site straight away because of the rains, it should concentrate on rehabilitation of the old road, which people were still using before they came in, pointing out that as a former Dumex construction company staff, “I am aware that we have sections on road construction, but today, I no longer see such a situation, then, in the night when people had stopped moving, we were working with our heavy duty search lights and before the following morning, a new and a very good road has been created to people to travel on”.
He said a construction company of the magnitude of Setraco should have the same three sections, morning, afternoon and night sections with their search lights permanently on, in the night to enable them work a considerable distance since there would be nominal movement at that time.
Idogho advised Governor Uduaghan to wade into the matter immediately before angry youths would turn against the company “so that no one will turn around later and say the Niger Delta Youths have started again”.
The concerned citizen advised the company not to take court threat as a joke because he meant business and would definitely go to court for the common good of the people of Delta State, and as a stakeholder who has the interest of the people at heart.
He also advised the company to stop dredging sand from the river within the town, close to the road it is working on, as such was against engineering and construction law, just as he also called on the people of Ughelli to stop the dredging that is currently going on, inside the Ughelli main town, less than 30-60 metres away from the road, which he said is very wrong.
