3 months ago
46
The people of Otuan and Ondewari communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State said they are excited over the ongoing Yenagoa/Oporoma road project because of the prospects it will offer them.
Some indigenes of both communities who stated their excitement at the weekend during a visit to assess the level of work done told journalists at the site that Governor Douye Diri is carrying on the project as a personal one.
Oyeinfie Jonjon, a former Special Adviser to the governor on Ijaw Affairs and one-time President of the Ijaw Youth Council commended all the administrations from the time when former President Goodluck Jonathan was governor to the present one.
Highlighting Diri’s efforts, Jonjon said, “The current administration has taken this project as a personal project in the sense that most people clamour for people to come from their areas as governor and deputy governor in the hope that they will extend development to their place.
“But, in this case, in Oporoma, we don’t have a Secretary to the Government. We don’t have a minister, we don’t even have somebody in the Senate.”
In Otuan, we don’t even have a commissioner, no prominent person, but the governor takes it as his project.”
He said the road will open up the community to others to invest in, particularly in the agricultural sector, noting that Otuan has been making great contributions to food security in the state as a food basket and the road will make it easier to evacuate farm produce to Yenagoa.
Another indigene of Otuan, Samuel Atabai, who is Otuan’s Community Liaison Officer at the construction company, Chinese Central Engineering and Construction Company, described the link road to the community as “a dream come true.”
Atabai said, “We don’t know what to say. I and my community will remain grateful to Senator Douye Diri forever for doing this for us.”
He explained that rather than spend about N5,000 to and from Angiama, which is a short distance across the River Nun, the community folk now prefer a 30-minute trek.
According to him, the contractor, CCECC, also heeded pleas from the community people to use the road, despite being still under construction, to access a ferry by the Oporoma Bridge, also under construction to augment the cost of transportation.
Also expressing excitement at the road project, Alagoa Morris, Deputy Executive Director of Environmental Defenders Network, told journalists that once the road got to Oporoma, the next town it will get to, Ondewari, is his community.
Morris, an environmental and human rights activist, said in his case, his joy was two-fold because the Bayelsa East senatorial road under construction is going to his maternal community, Twon-Brass.
He said, “This was one of the major things I mentioned when I had the rare privilege to appear before the governor, His Excellency Senator Douye Diri. I mentioned the one going to my mother’s place, Twon-Brass and this one going to Oporoma and that these two are very important projects.”
Morris explained that the fare from Ondewari to Angiama where they board vehicles is about N4,000 and that because of that some people use a footpath to Oporoma to shorten the distance before crossing the river to Angiama.
He said, “So if this road eventually gets to Oporoma and proceeds to Ondewari, not only the Ondewari people will be excited the way I am, but other Southern Ijaw communities in the Olodiama Clan, Apoi Clan down to Ukubie and Koluama, they will be happy.”
Though work is ongoing on the Angiama Bridge, CCECC has done site clearing across the river and is doing sand filling on the road to Oporoma and the spur to Otuan.
English (US) ·