Construction coy’s plan to quit erosion site alarms Ekwueme’s home, others
Residents of Oko community, including the home of former Vice President Alex Ekwueme in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, have raised alarm over plans by the construction company to pull out of the erosion site.
The ancestral home of the former Vice President which has been on the danger list since two years ago may cave in any moment following the erosion menace that has devastated the community as a result of heavy rains.
Daily Trust gathered that Rhino Construction Services, the company handling the gully erosion project at Nanka and Oko communities where several hectares of land have been washed away by erosion, has decided to pull out of the project at the expiration of the first phase.
Some residents who spoke to our correspondent, expressed worry over the refusal of government to commence the second phase.
A farmer, Okafor Ezenwa, commended the company for the level of job so far carried out, saying more houses would have collapsed into the gully if not for their intervention.
“You need to see the size of Oko and Nanka land that has been lost to the gully. We beg the federal government to continue with the second phase instead of handing it to the World Bank,” he said.
Also speaking, a former member of the House of Representatives, Chief Handel Okoli, said, “If government allows Rhino to leave the site without any palliative work, it will wash away the work so far done, which cost government N2 billion already. Dr Ekwueme has tried his best to reach out to President Muhammadu Buhari over his threatened home, he has even paid a visit and written several letters, but all to no avail,” he said.
A staff of Rhino Construction Services who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the first phase of the project had since been completed last year June, with the hope that the federal government would approve the commencement of the second phase of the job.
“But from what we gathered, the Anambra State government has written to the federal government asking them to hands off the job as the World Bank was taking over,” he added.