Senate Leader decries state of federal roads

Senate Leader Victor Ndoma-Egba has expressed concern over the deplorable state of the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road and other federal highways in Cross River State.

Ndoma-Egba said he had received criticisms from people in his senatorial district, especially those in the opposition party on the state of the roads.

He said in an interview in Calabar on Saturday that he would not rest until the roads, especially the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road, were rehabilitated

The lawmaker, who noted that the World Bank had taken over the Calabar/Ikom/Ogoja Road rehabilitation, lamented that procurement process had become a source of worry to him and the state government.

Ndoma-Egba said, “For now, that road is my life because my political life depends on it and I have staked everything. I have staked my reputation, I have assured our people that the road will be done.

“I was in touch with the Federal Ministry of Works and I spoke with the Schedule Officer, who is in charge of World Bank project. Part of the Ogoja/Ikom Road has been taken over by the World Bank and you know that the World Bank procurement processes are quite different from our own procurement processes.

“I was discussing the road two days ago with His Excellency( Cross River State Governor Liyel Imoke) and he drew my attention to the normal challenges of procurement under the World Bank. It is going to be slow, it is going to be tedious but at the end of the day, what we will get will be solid because it is going to be built not to our own local standard but to World Bank standard.”

The lawmaker appealed to the people to exercise patience as the Federal Government and the World Bank would soon complete the procurement process.

He added, “All I will say is that the patient dog eats the fattest bone. So I believe that sooner than later, the Federal Government will complete the procurement process with the World Bank.”

Ndoma-Egba added that another part of the road “is already part of the African Development Bank- sponsored project.”

He said, “If you are driving on the Ogoja/Ikom Road at the Mbok junction, if you look right you will see a very neatly done road, which is part of Trans African Highway.”

By Mudiaga Affe                   Courtesy Of: Punch