Economic and social activities were disrupted in different parts of Imo state on Tuesday, 26th of October, 2021, as residents came out en-masse to protest the deplorable state of roads in the state.
The residents who said that they could not bear it anymore called on the State and Local Governments to come to their aid.
Speaking to our correspondence,some of the protesters lamented the hardship the poor state of roads are causing them,saying that cost of transportation have doubled because of the nature of the roads.
Drivers and road users were not left out too,many of the drivers complained that they are regular visitors to mechanics, occasioned by the roads, they attributed the hike in transportation to the fact that they spend much on car repairs and hence, they have to add the cost to the price of transportation. They called for help too.
A Property owner in Ogbu Osisi, who spoke to Imoflash on condition of anonymity said that residents are leaving the area due to the poor state of the roads, he said that he had to reduce the price of rent in order to entice tenants to stay.
Few of the bad roads are Akwakuma- Ogbu Osisi, Ubomiri- Nwaoruebi, Avu, Umuguma, Nekede-Ihiagwa, World Bank axis, Toronto-Uratta, World Bank.
A student of Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, lamented bitterly on the pains she goes through daily in order to get to school from her family house in Owerri main town.
She said "Sometimes,I spend 2-3 hours on the road in a journey that ordinarily won't be up to 40mins, I don't even want to talk about the hike in the fare because it is crazy".
"I call on the State Government to come to our aid,we are really suffering,I miss classes sometimes due to the traffic situations"
Speaking to our correspondence, A Senior Official in the Ministry of Works, said that the State Government is aware of the roads, he called for understanding and patience from the residents, saying that "Government cannot fix all infrastructures at the same time due to paucity of funds". He said that more contractors will move to site once the rains comes down.
