By Frank Ulom
The Government of Cross River State has closed Yellow Duke by Palm Street Road at the major culvert intersection leading to Musaha and Ekpo Abasi axis in Calabar South Local Government Area of the State.
This was revealed by the Honourable Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Hon. Pius Ankpo during a press briefing on Sunday.
Ankpo noted that it became necessary and as a matter of urgent public interest that the road be shut down for immediate rehabilitation at the instance of the Executive Council, adding that the reason is to save the road from further collapse which itself could have been hazardous to road users and residents alike.
“We have deliberated on this at the Executive Council and arrived at the decision to close this portion of the road for rehabilitation.
“The Governor is very passionate about issues like this and will not allow a second pass by without taking actions to safeguard lives and property,” he noted.
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Speaking extensively on the construction operations, the Commissioner expressed concerns over designs that have been adopted by engineers which have resulted in a resurgence of the culvert failure after a short period of time.
“I have done an extensive analysis of the designs used by our former contractors and I don’t think they were proper, considering the volume of water that passes through this point and the force. What we are introducing here will rather be a mini bridge which will solve the problem once and for all.
“The public should expect that in 30 to 45 days, we should have completed the road and officially reopen for use,” Ankpo said.
He also noted that this rehabilitation was going simultaneously with other culvert projects across the metropolis and one such that is worthy of note is the Chamley Road culvert which was almost impassable.
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