The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), Abia State chapter, has kicked off a plan to keep seven federal roads in Abia State neat and tidy.
The agency has started cutting grass and mopping up refuse along various federal roads in the state to make way for easy vehicular movement.
The roads which are in different parts of the three senatorial zones of the state witnessed several truckloads of refuse being evacuated along the Enugu-Port Harcourt express way and cutting of grasses along the median which was being done through direct labour.
Speaking with newsmen at one of the venues of the exercise, the state resident engineer of FERMA, Osita Ezenwaka said that the cutting of grass and clearing of refuse will complement the efforts of federal government on road repair.
Ezenwaka said that the management of FERMA decided to introduce Shareholders Assisted Right of Way Maintenance Intervention Program (SHAROW-MIP) with the aim of making the highways safer and more environment-friendly.
He said that the exercise will help in ensuring that the roads are in clean and good condition, stressing that a healthy environment makes for a healthy living and called on all to join hands to make it work.
The Abia FERMA boss said that he is satisfied with the level of work being done by his agency in ensuring that all the seven roads being cleaned will make motorists to see better during the day and in the night while driving.
He noted that before now that the median and other parts of the federal roads in the state have been littered with refuse and cabbages which is not supposed to be so, “You can see that people have formed the ugly habit of littering our roads with rubbish which we intend to stop.”
Ezenwaka explained the FERMA exercise will also help in a long way to reduce the mountain of refuse that have been constant ugly sites in several parts of the state, stressing that it does not portray the state in good light.
He recalled that the grasses along the Enugu-Port Harcourt express way had been cut recently, “But you can agree with me that constant dumping of refuse along the median has made it (grasses) to grow to a higher level which needs urgent attention.”
The roads being attended to include, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Azumini-Aba Road, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene Road, Arochukwu-Ohafia and Uturu-Okigwe Road.
Ezenwaka said that the agency would have loved to be clearing the medians every month, “However we are handicapped with lack of funds, as we are determined to ensure safe motoring on all our roads across the federation.”
He noted that if the medians and road shoulders are kept clean that the waste water will find a way to drain on its own instead of percolating on the roads which will in turn destroy the roads which have been done with several millions of naira.
The Abia FERMA resident engineer explained that the exercise is to ensure that all the motor ways are kept clean which will in turn make the contractors working on the road from Enugu-Port Harcourt express way and other roads to have a clear vision on the roads without entertaining fears of hidden hoodlums.
Ezenwaka used the forum to advise Abians against dumping refuse along the medians and road shoulders, adding that they should be dumping their refuse at designated dumpsites.
