As the rainy season enters its peak, drivers and commuters plying Ekhuan-Ogbiokho road, in Benin, under construction have called on the state government to hasten its completion to ease their suffering.
Some of the drivers and commuters, who spoke to our reporter, lamented that the road, whose construction commenced nearly one year ago, was nowhere near completion.
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A motorist, Monday Osasuwa said they were virtually working for mechanics as they had to visit mechanic workshop almost every day.
“They started the construction before the September, 2020 governorship election in Edo State and till now they have not gone anywhere and now even the area they had worked on is being washed away by rain.”
He called on the state government to expedite action on the road and complete it on time to ease their suffering.
Another driver, Idemidia Ogbes said both commuters and drivers were suffering because of the work being carried out on the road.
“Before constructing the road, they scraped the other one we were managing and we are now finding it difficult to move especially when it rains.”
He said he was spending more than N10,000 repairing his vehicle every week due to the bad state of the road.
A commuter, John Abraham, said that the drivers have increase transportation fare on the road .
“The road is in a terrible state now, we thought they would complete the road before the rainy season but they are still battling with it. A fare of N100 has increased to between N150 and N200 depending on the driver. They said they now visit mechanic for repairs almost on daily basis.”
He called on the state government to urge the contractor handling the road project to speed up work on the road so as to ease their suffering.
Another commuter who gave his name as Ibe lamented that the work on the road is too slow.
“The contractor handling the job is doing it bit by bit and at a snail pace. If they had been serious on it they would have completed it by now.”
