The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Delta State Council, has appealed to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State to declare a state of emergency on Okpanam Road in the Asaba capital territory, revoke the contract and give it to a competent contractor.
The NUJ in a statement made available to the press and endorsed by the Chairman and Secretary of the council, Comrade Michael Ikeogwu and Comrade Churchill Oyowe respectively, said that the Okpanam Road, particularly the Okpanam axis had been under construction for over eight year without completion.
The statement described the state of Okpanam Road as an embarrassment to the Asaba capital territory and counterproductive to the promotion of the numerous road projects embarked upon and completed by the government of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in Okpanam.
It said that Okpanam Road was too strategic to the Asaba capital territory to be left at the pace work had been going on, saying observation over the years indicated that whenever the contractor made two steps forward, the flood would drag the progress backward by three steps, blaming the ugly trend on the inconsistent progression of work by the contracting firm handling the road.
According to the NUJ, work had stopped for some time now in the construction of the road and the rainy season would soon enter its peak period, stressing that the progress made in recent time before the stoppage of work might come under serious threat as experienced in the past.
The union therefore blamed the poor state of the road on incompetence of the contractor handling the job, thereby called on the state governor to give dedicated attention to finally complete the Okpanam Road by all possible means.
While thanking the governor for the massive award of road contracts across the Lenght and Bredth of Delta State, and the completion of some, the union, once again, congratulated him on his overwhelming victory at the gubernatorial poll on 9th March, 2019 and wished him greater success in the second tenure.
