THE Secretary of Ashama community, Mr. Kester Ilomechine has called on Delta State government to construct the abandoned Ashama – Ubulu-Unor link road.
He said the un-motorable state of the road has become a great cause of concern, adding that its poor state has rendered the community inaccessible.
Noting that the former self help employed by the community people in keeping the road accessible can no longer be sustained, Ilomechine hinted that Ashama road can no longer be accessed with vehicle.
Explaining that only motorcycles can access the road, the leading community member in a chat with our correspondent explained that the high transport fare charged by commercial motorcycle operators due to the bad state of the road has become unbearable for the community people whose source of income is only farming.
Lamenting that farm produce from the community is transported to other parts of the local government via motorcycle, he hinted that the consequential effect has become unbearable for the people.
“Imagine the situation where you have a car, yet you cannot drive to your home with it. When I have to go to Ashama, I am forced to park my vehicle in Ubulu-Unor, our sister community and from there, I will have to look for a commercial motorcycle to take me to Ashama.
“That is the way we access our community that is less than two kilometers to our sister community, Ubulu-Unor. Sometimes in the past, we learnt that through the former Senator, Peter Nwaoboshi the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) did approved the road for construction, the community was happy.
“Even at a time, during the outgone administration of Ifeanyi Okowa, we knew that a stretch of the road was approved for construction, but these expectations were never met.
“Recently, we have started seeing some people carrying out survey signs on the road, but how far that will go we don’t know. I must say that our people are suffering due to the terrible state of the road.
“Besides, we have had cases where pregnant women who are being rushed to hospital outside our community have had miscarriage due to the bad state of the road. Apart from that, the maternity clinic in the community is more or less not existing.
“Our market is as good as abandoned. Our people don’t trade there because, buyers from outside our community cannot access our community due to the un-motorable state of the road.
“Therefore, we are once again calling on the state government to facilitate the quick construction of the road, especially now that we are entering the dry season”, he said.
