By Emmanuel Uffot
Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno has assured residents of the areas where intervention works are currently ongoing, of a speedy completion of the projects.
One of the projects is the Atiku Abubakar flood evacuation and the Udo Inyang Street end gully erosion site recovery projects, in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital are to be completed before the onset of 2024 rainy season.
Governor Umo Eno gave the assurance after his tour of the project sites at Atiku Abubakar Way and Udo Inyang Street end, Ikot Idio in Ewet Offot community, Uyo.
Recalling his last visit to the gully erosion site when the area was inaccessible beyond the Udo Inyang Street by Urua Udofia axis, due to the erosion menace, Governor Eno expressed satisfaction with the intervention measures, describing it as necessary and timely.
The Governor said he was impressed with the pace of works on Atiku Abubakar flood control project, where underground and surface drains are being constructed simultaneously to evacuate flood waters from the area into the IBB Avenue drainage trough. He affirmed that the value of the project to the people was worth the spending.
Governor Eno “Atiku Abubakar, you could see the underground drains and the upper drains. You could see the length, to take water to the main drainage in the state.
“I think those interventions were good. So, for me, from time to time I go around to see and have a clear understanding of what expenses we are doing and I’m marrying the money to the works in my own estimation.”
Reviewing the project, Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Professor Eno Ibanga, described the projects as a justification of Governor Umo Eno’s spontaneous interventions in the infrastructure need of the people of the State, explaining that the Atiku Way drainage which spans 1.2km fits into the state’s drainage master plan and will link the Atiku waters to the main drainage.
On the gully erosion recovery project, the Commissioner said that the rapid earth loss has been intercepted with the recovery process on quick pace, adding that the first retaining wall has been completed and the second will be completed before the next rainy season, reassuring that the Atiku Abubakar way surface will be restored by the end of February.
The interventions, upon completion will salvage the age long despair of residents of Atiku Abubakar Avenue and its environs and the disconnected areas in Ewet Offot community as well as create a tourist site to complement the Dominic Utuk street recreational park.
