Residents of Amuokpokpor- Elume Community, in Sapele local government area of Delta State have cried out to the Niger Delta Development Commission to reconstruct the collapsed road connecting the community to other parts of the state.
Recall that few years ago, the people of Amuokpokpor-Elume community rolled out drum to celebrate the concrete construction of the only access road that connects the riverine community to other communities.
They were grateful to the Niger Delta Development Commission for intervening in the road construction after decades of untold hardship using the road.
Sadly, barely a year after, Amuokpokpor-Elume road has become deplorable, with residents experiencing worst hardship owing to very few okada riders that now ply the road, charging high transport fare from the locals.
A visit to the road shows a pitiable site with frightening potholes as the substandard less than five kilometers concrete road washed away, thereby making bare the rods with which the road was constructed.
The locals said many motorists had withdrawn their vehicles from the road that has now become a death trap.
Daniel Ogbodo, the Amuokpokpor Community chairman, who recounted how the project started in 2020, alleged that the contractor used substandard materials to carry out the project, resulting in its outright failure after few years of completion.
”The road constitutes a “death trap” owing to the presence of heaps of stones, exposed construction iron, and no drainage.
“At the project’s inception, the community was filled with jubilation, knowing the struggles residents had faced with poor road conditions for years. However, we were surprised that the newly constructed concrete paved road did not last a year before deteriorating, leaving the community in a worse state than before the contractor’s intervention”, Ogbodo stated.
An elder in the community, Olu Majelele and the President General of Elume District Felix Emuobonuvie, urged NDDC to revisit the site and reconstruct the road to alleviate their plights in using the road .
“Currently, the Amuokpokpor road is almost impassable because the rods and other metal objects utilized in its construction have resurfaced. This has resulted in the bursting of motorcycle and vehicle tyres. Consequently, no one wants to ride their motorcycle or drive their vehicle into the village for fear of punctured tyres”, Emuobonuvie lamented.
”In the recent past, this road has been the site of a heartbreaking incident that led to the loss of our son, whose vehicle overturned, resulting in his instantaneous death. A visual inspection of the road, which was built less than five years ago, reveals the existence of multiple potholes. We humbly request that the NDDC deploy their site engineer to inspect the road and provide support to the Amuokpokpor-Elume community, as this road serves as the community’s sole access route, Majelele revealed.
Representatives of women in the community, Mrs. Mercy Izobo and Mrs. Bridget Emuobonuvie shared the difficulties they experienced in conveying their goods to market.
”We are involved in farming various crops, including cassava, rubber, timber, fishery, plantain, snails, yam, palm oil, among others, but encounter difficulties in marketing their processed products due to the high transportation costs, as drivers demand a hundred percent fare increase, attributing it to the bad condition of the road”
They appealed to the interventionist federal agency, the Niger Delta Development Commission to address their concerns and complete the road project to ease their suffering.
The locals who also lamented the poor state of health facilities, absence of essential infrastructure in the community as well the worsening ecological problems, appealed to the NDDC to extend the road project to the riverbank with drains and a jetty .
As at the time of filing in this report, the authorities of NDDC were yet to respond to the failed Amuokpokpor- Elume road project.
Source: Sam Erhunmwunsee
