The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency has vowed to sustain the ’Operation Zero Portholes’ and ‘Connect to Your Destination’ campaigns launched in December 2023.
The campaigns were aimed at eradicating all potholes on the country’s federal and state highways, as well as reconnecting stranded communities cut off from other areas by virtue of the failing status of the roads.
FERMA Managing Director, Engr. Emeka Agbasi, disclosed this at the end of a three-day inspection of rehabilitated Port Harcourt-Osiokpo-Elele-Omerelu-Imo State border road, Mbiama Junction section of the East-West road, Opolo-Elebele-Emeyal road in Rivers, Bayelsa and the Ete-Abak road in Akwa Ibom states.
Agbasi, represented by the Director, Roads Maintenance and Management Services, FERMA Headquarters, Abuja, Engr. Dr. Iniobong Usoro, said with the campaigns, bad roads would soon be a thing of the past in Nigeria.
Speaking on the rehabilitated Ete-Abak road, FERMA’s Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Engr. Festus Okafor, said prior to the agency’s intervention, the failure of the road halted almost all economic activities in the communities.
Meanwhile, the Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer for Rivers State, Adoga Asikhia, said the programme to mitigate potholes and bad spots on the roads was launched prior to the yuletide season to ensure everyone travels smoothly to their destinations.
He encouraged motorists not to litter the roads or block drainages, pointing out that such practices destroy the roads over time.
Speaking after inspecting the rehabilitated Opolo-Elebele-Emeyal road, connecting Yenagoa, Oloibiri, Brass and Nembe, the Federal Road Maintenance Engineer, Bayelsa Field Office, Engr. Okhide Austine, said the road before FERMA’s intervention was completely destroyed by the torrential floods that affected the state in 2023.
He assured of the durability of the road, noting that it would stand the test of time as it was rehabilitated to specification, adding, “Motorists and commuters should be assured that what has been done is solid, a lot of tests were carried out in the course of the programme to ensure that there is conformity to standard and specification.
