There was excitement in Enugu yesterday as Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi formally reopened the New Haven junction section of the Chime Avenue to traffic, in keeping with his directive that the failed box culvert on the road be reconstructed within three weeks.
The section of the road, which was built over 16 years ago by one of the past administrations, was closed 20 days back (yesterday) because of “a box culvert failure at the centre lane of the dual carriageway”, which prompted the governor’s unscheduled visit to the site and directive to the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Engr. Greg Nnaji to restore the culvert for reopening of the road in three weeks.
Engr. Nnaji had reassured the governor and the people of the state of his ministry’s readiness and commitment to beat the deadline and restore the culvert to a good standard, saying, “we are taking due diligence, engineering application from Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to restore this particular culvert to a good standard that will equally sustain the infrastructure we have”.
At the reopening of the road, a day to the expiration of the deadline, Gov. Ugwuanyi inspected the project to ascertain the quality of work done, and received spontaneous cheers and commendations from residents of the area and road users, who applauded his prompt intervention and commitment to their wellbeing, chanting, “Gburugburu, the People’s Governor”, “Okaome”, “Ezigbo Member”, etc.
The Works Commissioner, who appreciated the governor for providing the needed support for the timely completion of the project to service the people of the state, also thanked him for the confidence he reposed in the ministry to restore the culvert under such a tight deadline.
“Your Excellency, we have restored this culvert to standard as you directed and we thank you for the opportunity as well as the confidence you have in the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure. We had to step up our efforts to overcome this challenge.
“We, therefore, invite you to open this road section for both vehicular and pedestrian access and for the convenience and safety of the people of Enugu State”, the Works Commissioner said.
