Akwa Ibom State Governor, Pastor Umo Eno, has expressed satisfaction with the pace and quality of work at the ongoing gully erosion reclamation and beautification of the Uyo-Ewet ravine project, while affirming the determination of his administration to convert the area to a tourist site.
Governor Eno bared his mind during his inspection of the project at Etim Umanah and Udo Inwang Streets in Ewet Offot Community.
Governor Eno who, on his first visit, met a completely collapsed Udo Inwang Street at the Etim Okon Usanga intersection, took a walk through the Udo Inwang Street end, across the ravine, to Dominic Utuk Avenue where he expressed delight at the project’s execution and acknowledged the relief the project has brought to the people of the area.
The Governor expressed optimism that the project which includes the reclamation of the gully erosion-ravaged Etim Umana and Udo Inwang streets and conversion of the ravine lying between Uyo and Ewet villages of Offot Ukwa clan to a recreation park, will be completed by the end of the year.
Fielding questions from Government House Correspondents, he said that he decided to personally inspect the progress of work , as it is his approach to work, before approving more funds for the project.
According to him “we thank God that we are able to walk up to this point here. I remember we couldn’t during our first visit. I thank the contractor, who is a man of his words. He said he was going to reclaim this area. You know the houses here were already going, and the erosion was approaching the Government House. I personally felt the pain of the people living here and the amount of money we had to sink into this place to reclaim this place but it was something we had to attack.”
The Governor assured that upon completion, the project will convert the hitherto daring ravine to a recreational facility that will pass for a tourists delight, for which purpose, he said, he was prevailing on the contractor to ensure completion latest December.
“We will reclaim the place and channel the water properly, it will become a lake, and we would have a very good tourist site here. So that’s what we are doing,” he explained.
The Commissioner for Works and Fire Service, Professor Eno Ibanga, said the project was one of the first set of the people-oriented interventions Governor Umo Eno chose to undertake upon assumption of office, adding that the project upon completion would save the people from the menace of gully erosion, reclaim and reintegrate the collapsed portion of Uyo metropolis.
On his part, Chief Faysal Harb, the Managing Director of Bulletin Construction Company Limited, the firm handling the project, assured on the quality and timely delivery of the project.
He pledged the commitment of his company to a fifty-year guarantee period, adding that anyone revisiting the site in the next three months will be dazzled at the project execution.
The Village Head of Uyo and Chairman, Offot Ukwa Clan Council, Eteidung Aniedi Okon, expressed the gratitude of the communities for the various interventions of the Governor Umo Eno-led government in the area and prayed for God’s blessings upon the governor and his administration.