The people of Umualum Nekede (Old Road) have decried deplorable state of their road which they said has devastated road users and demoralized their spirit of doing business.
During a visit to the community on Monday by our reporter, the people frowned that the gully erosion would not have collapsed the major road as well as the Zoo fence if Imo State government had urgently intervened as they pleaded earlier. The road, according to the community, has been in a very bad shape for donkey years, dampening business activities at the area, causing excruciating suffering, pain and hunger among residents.
Condemning government’s lackadaisical attitude on the plight of residents of Old Road Nekede, a community leader, High Chief Nkemakolam Christopher called on Governor Hope Uzodimma to urgently fix the road to ease traffic as well as lessen suffering which residents pass through on daily basis.
Nkemakolam added that the “deplorable Old Road Nekede poses danger, depletes social and commercial activities, increases suffering and hunger among residents. Road is as important to the people as water and electricity and these basic amenities should not elude the people who produce wealth of the state. Hence government should come in and reconstruct the road to ease movement. The Zoo fence has totally collapsed and the road had caved in”.
The business mogul and politician advised government not to shy away from meeting its responsibility to the people it is accountable to, for continued peace, comfort and safety.
Also speaking, a palace cabinet, Martin Osuji and former local government chairman of Owerri West, Hon. Chidi Odu, pleaded with state government to do the needful by fixing the bad roads at Nekede Old Road to reduce hardship among residents.
They regretted that the gully erosion had taken the life of a young man who was said to be scavenging for food, saying if government had intervened by fixing the road or doing some palliative measures, the scavenger might not have died the way he died.
“It is unfortunate that a poor scavenger whose identity was yet to be identified was scavenging at the gully erosion site when it collapsed, trapping him. He was still trapped in the ditch as the Zoo fence collapsed with no effort being made by authority to rescue him”, they regretted.
