By Lucky Isibor
The Edo State Government has said it will intensify the rehabilitation of bad roads across the state during the dry season, explaining that major road repairs undertaken during the current rainy season would be undermined by persistent rainfall.
The State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua, stated this on Wednesday during a press briefing in Benin City, where he addressed concerns over the deteriorating condition of roads across the state.
Afegbua attributed the current state of some roads to what he described as poor-quality construction carried out by the immediate past administration, saying the government had assessed several roads and found extensive potholes and other infrastructure defects.
“The level of decay now is suggestive of the fact that they were quantity rule, not quality rule,” he said, adding that several roads previously rehabilitated had deteriorated considerably.
According to him, the government had inspected the GRA roads and other adjoining roads, including the road from Iyekobga Estates, Iriri, Okhuaroma axis, which he said had become riddled with potholes despite having reportedly been constructed under the previous administration.
He said the government was concerned about the durability of road projects, stressing that road construction should be undertaken with quality and proper drainage in mind.
Afegbua also explained why the government had not embarked on extensive pothole repairs during the rainy season.
“No construction engineer will attempt to fix potholes, bad roads, during rainy season. Today is marking the third day of almost ceaseless rainfall,” he said. The commissioner assured residents that the government would confront the road challenges when the weather became favourable.
“When dry season comes, we have to speed up work to ensure that we are able to arrest some of these pothole-infested roads,” he said.
Afegbua, however, stressed that road rehabilitation must go hand in hand with proper drainage infrastructure, warning that resurfacing roads without addressing water drainage would amount to waste.
“The governor is willing to embark on GRA roads, for example. But of critical importance is the drains. If you do any meaningful work on those roads without gutter, drains, it amounts to pouring money into the ocean,” he said.
He listed several road projects either completed or ongoing across the state, including the Sapele Road project, Temboga roads, Amufi, Evbotubu and Ekenwan state roads, as well as the Iruekpen-Sabogida-Ora road.
He said reclamation work was also ongoing between Auchi and Igarra, adding that the project would be extended towards the Igarra Technical College because the area had become a security concern.
According to him, roads in Ikabigbo leading to Ayoguiri, as well as roads in Udomi, Udomi, Irrua and Ekkpoma, were also being undertaken.
“If only we could have four months of dry weather, we know the mileage we will cover,” Afegbua said.
The commissioner also highlighted what he described as achievements of the Governor Monday Okpebholo administration in the area of security.
He said forest guards had been deployed to forests across the state as part of efforts to tackle kidnapping and other criminal activities, adding that the intervention had contributed to a reduction in security challenges.
Afegbua said the administration was also addressing infrastructure challenges in other sectors, including education and healthcare.
On education, he said the government had recovered about 83 schools and was working to provide furniture and other facilities required to create a conducive learning environment.
He acknowledged the scale of the challenges confronting the education sector, saying the government could not resolve all of them at once.
“The challenges are quite enormous. And the interventions we are making are also very enormous. But we cannot finish them in one fell swoop,” he said.
According to him, the administration’s approach was to address the challenges in a gradual and sustainable manner, subject to the resources available to the state.
“It has to be methodical, systematic, gradual, but sustainable, so that we can address all of these peculiar challenges to the best of the finances that we have in the state,” he said.
Afegbua also disclosed that primary healthcare centres were receiving attention as part of the administration’s broader intervention in the health sector.
The briefing was attended by the Commissioner for Arts and Culture, Hon. Chris Okaeben, The Special Adviser to the Governor on Health Matters, Dr. Andrew Iyamu and the Executive Secretary, Edo State Drugs And Health Commodities Management Agency, Kenny Okojie, who joined Afegbua in highlighting the administration’s activities and interventions, including those in the arts and culture and health sectors.
The commissioner said the government remained focused on addressing infrastructure and other developmental challenges across the state, while appealing for public understanding as the interventions were implemented in phases.