Anambra Government says it will give extra financial support to any community in the state that is willing to partner with it in road rehabilitation and construction.
Gov. Willie Obiano said this on Thursday at Neni, Anaocha Local Government Area of the state, when he inaugurated a handbook on Road Construction and Maintenance.
He said that the handbook would help in the rehabilitation and maintenance of already constructed roads in the state to ensure durability.
Obiano, represented by the Commissioner for Works, Mr Marcel Ifejiofor, said that Neni Road Maintenance Agency (NERMA) was also inaugurated to aid the maintenance of roads in the area.
He said that the handbook contained all the state government needed in models of road maintenance, especially at the early stages of dilapidation, marked with potholes.
Obiano said that potholes in Neni area would soon be a thing of the past and commended the community for partnering the government in road rehabilitation.
“Almost all the villages in Neni has a tarred road and l commend the proprietor of TONIMAS Company, Late Chief Anthony Enukeme, for constructing over 18 kilometers of roads in the community,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Paul Enidom, Chairman, Committee on NERMA, said that the handbook had detailed model to aid road maintenance.
Enidom said that part of the content of the model provides that every community that needs tarred road must be ready to maintain such road after construction.
“Part of the arrangement listed in the handbook includes a N2,000 road maintenance levy on every man in Neni.
“Also, the affluent in the community have a duty to construct at least one kilometer of road and make more donations for road maintenance,’’ Enidom said.
He appealed to the state government to name a road in the state after Enukeme as a way to immortalise him.
Mr Ekene Enukeme, son of the late industrialist, who constructed most roads in the community singlehanded, lauded the estabishment of NERMA.
He advised the people not to relax because his father constructed roads in the community but sustain and improve on his father’s legacy until all the roads in the community were tarred.
The Chairman of the event, Chief Ikenna Okafor, commended the community for collaborating with government in road construction.
Okafor urged other communities to emulate Neni in order to facilitate the rapid development of their areas and Anambra in general. (NAN)
