Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia said Thursday that his administration would deploy available resources at its disposal to complete the Isiala Ngwa Inland Dry Port.
Ikpeazu said this during the inauguration of the Amaorji Expressway Junction-Abayi-Isi Court Road in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government Area.
He said his administration started following up on the port project in order to ensure its completion to enhance business in the South-East.
Speaking on the road, he said it was an intervention project by the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Ikpeazu said he resolved to personally inaugurate the road to disprove the impression by some persons that it was abandoned.
“I came to inaugurate this road and put a date for the completion of its phase two.
“It has become a tradition for people to claim our projects and they have even gone ahead to say that this road was abandoned.
“I came here today to prove that the road is a reality.
“And I want to add that those who are angry when we work hard to bring the dividend of democracy to our people deserve to be pitied.
“The inland dry port is another project that falls within our efforts to improve trade and investment for our people.
“We are aware that many of the containers belonging to businessmen from here are stuck at the Apapa Seaport in Lagos.
“But when we complete the dry port, our businessmen can bring in goods easily and also export what they have manufactured,” the governor said.
Mrs Joy Nwanju, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, said the intervention on the road started in 2019.
Nwanju said the project involved three roads distributed across the three senatorial districts of the state.
She expressed happiness that the governor was inaugurating the second road under the intervention, having inaugurated the first road in Abia south.
She said the third project in Abia north had been completed and would soon be inaugurated.
Chief Bob Ogu, the Commissioner for Works, said the governor had developed a template for completing all ongoing road projects in the state.
Ogu further said that all the roads constructed under Ikpeazu’s adminstration were guaranteed to last for twenty years.
He urged the indigenes to desist from making bonfires on the roads during protests and festive periods to stop them from failing.
A resident of the area, Mr Okwuonu Nwaogwugwu, thanked the governor for his emphasis on roads in the area.
Nwaogwugwu urged him to ensure the completion of the second phase of the road, beginning from Abayi Primary School to Old Aba-Umuahia Road at Isi-Court. (NAN)
