January 16, 2019
By Ijendu Iheaka
Aba residents on Tuesday began groaning at the touch of the first rains which reached them on Monday night because it had begun to affect their lives and businesses.
The rains which had percolated in deep potholes on bad roads in the city had made traffic sluggish.
It had also heightened the danger of spread of diseases, having formed storm water and hauled refuse and trash into resident’s compounds and apartments in different areas of the city.
The badly affected roads in the northern part of Aba South Local Government Area include, Obohia road, Ohazu road, and Igbere road on which suspended construction work since 2017 had been turned into a vortex of trash, emptying same into resident’s apartments and compounds.
Others in the same axis are Ohazu road, Danfodia road, Mbaitoli and Ozuomba streets all of which have been totally cut off and made non-passable as storm water poured rubbish and contents of nearby soak-away systems into the road blocking access to most residents.
The bad roads on the eastern axis include Omuma road, Cemetary road, Amaukwu road, Uratta road and Osusu roads which suspended road construction begun by the Ikpeazu administration had made a nightmare as the unfinished drainage system is pouring water into people’s houses.
Ngwa road, Ohazu and Ozuomba roads had also become cut-off and some stretches made refuse dumps, raising health concerns because the state’s sanitation agency cannot reach them to cart away refuse from these areas.
Mr Orji Eni, a hawker, told our reporter that the water percolating on Ngwa road will get worse as the rains increase and would cut them off from coming out to do their businesses around the road.
He called on the state government to help them rehabilitated the road and other adjoining ones to enable them do businesses and feed their families.
A tricycle operator, Mr Eze Okroafor who operates on the area Obohia road said “we now live in hell”.
“If I get money to start building on my vacant land, I will leave transport business because there are no roads to do the business here and the damages bad roads are causing us takes much of the money we get daily”, he said.
He doubted if many of the tricyclists in the area would remain in business when the rains fully resume while urging Governor Okezie Ikpeazu to come to their rescue.
A lady who identified herself as Mrs Emeka who lives on Igbere road said that as the rains has started lifting trash into their compound; it would result in breeding of swarms of mosquitoes.
According to her, it had begun to affect their children who after being bitten by mosquitoes become sick and consume much money through medical treatment.
She regretted their incapacity to pack away from the zone because they do not have the money to rent another apartment and asked the government to finish the construction work suspended a year ago on the Igbere road to make life easier for them.
No comments:
Post a Comment