Hon. Victor Afam Ogene, the Labour Party candidate for the Ogbaru Federal Constituency in this month's general elections, has urged Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo to immediately act to help the residents of the Ogbaru Local Government Area by approving repair work on the main road that connects all 15 of the LGA's communities.
Recall that last year's flooding had a negative impact on the main Onitsha-Ossomala-Ogwuikpele route, leaving it in a mess of craters, gullies, broken culverts, bridges, and fallen sections.
In an open letter to Governor Soludo, Hon. Ogene, who served as the House of Representatives representative for Ogbaru Federal Constituency from 2011 to 2015, questioned why, three months after the last floods subsided, the residents of Ogbaru continue to endure unspeakable hardship travelling to and from their various communities.
He said: “As it is, the rains are about to set in, heightening fears that no rehabilitation or remedial works would be carried out.
“Indeed, in the unlikely event that works on the road does not commence urgently, the people of Ogbaru may have to suffer further hardship, as the road would become almost impassable given the current level of disrepair.
“Already, the first rainfall in Anambra State, which occurred on Sunday, January 29, 2023, has left the people apprehensive about what their fate would be when the raining season begins in earnest.”
Following last year’s flood, houses, farmlands and other businesses in Ogbaru were swallowed by the horrendous flood, further subjecting to people to agony, abject poverty, hopelessness and dire straits.
“It is pathetic. It was a terrible sight in Ogbaru as a result of the flood disaster. The human and environmental conditions remain absolutely pathetic and require urgent action from the government in order to alleviate the sufferings of the despondent victims, most of whom lost all their belongings to the flood disaster.
“For a people who have had to endure eight years of absolute neglect by the last Administration, especially as it concerns its major road, perhaps, it would not be out of place to expect the Soludo Solution in getting the road fixed.
“As the acclaimed food basket of Anambra State, Ogbaru farmers have since gone back to the farms, but nonetheless weary that their efforts may yet go to waste, especially as there are fears that they may not be able to evacuate their produce after harvest if the road is not fixed,” Ogene said.