There is no doubt that the Eleme –Onne axis of the East West road is important to the socio-economic development of the country. The over 18 kilometres of the road which stretches from Eleme Junction Interchange on the Port Harcourt – Aba expressway, to Trailer Park Junction in Onne, has been in a very deplorable condition for years with little or no attention from relevant authorities.Beyond serving as the major route to Akwa-Ibom from Rivers State, the section of the road also connects eight local government areas in Rivers State, namely Khana, Gokana, Tai, Eleme, Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro, Okrika and Oyigbo.It will equally serve as a major link to Bonny Island when eventually, the Bodo- Bonny road is completed.The axis of the road which is considered as one of the most vital roads in the country, leads to the Federal Ocean Terminal, Onne Oil and Gas Free Zone, the Eleme industrial hub, which hosts two petroleum refineries, two major international fertilizer plants, a naval college and several international institutions as well as oil producing facilities, among others. Despite its importance, the deplorable condition of the road, has subjected motorists to spending hours for a journey that ideally would have taken between 20 to 30 minutes from Port Harcourt to Onne. It is regrettable that the Eleme section of the East-West Road has been allowed to deteriorate to the point that road traffic accidents, which had claimed several lives and properties, has became daily occurrence.Worried by the poor state of the road, youths and civil society organisations from the area, often organized protests, to press home their demands for its reconstruction.These protests usually lead to heavy losses of man-hours for business operators in Eleme and Onne, including other users of the road. In response to the concerns raised about the condition of the road, last year, 2024, the federal government committed N33 billion to Reynold Construction Company RCC, to commence work. The contract was for the upgrade and expansion of the road from a two-lane to three-lane dual carriageway, increase the thickness of the asphalt layer and construction of interchange bridges at the Refinery junction and Onne Port junction, to ease the traffic flow. However, the contractor was not mobilized immediately . This initially led to the slow pace of work on the project. Nonetheless, it is worthy to note that the contractor has increased the pace of the reconstruction of the Eleme-Onne axis of the East West Road, and it is hoped that the Federal Government would continue to fulfill its financial obligations to the contractor for timely completion of the project.With adequate funding, it is expected that the contractor would ensure the completion of the project which include; full reconstruction, expansion of the road to six lanes and construction of flyovers at Trailer Park and Refinery Junction, to alleviate the ordeals of motorists and other users of the road .
Collins Gbarawi writes from Radio Nigeria Treasure FM PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria.
