In partnership with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC),the Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu, has said his administration is ready to identify the need to provide logistics around moving petroleum products into the depot at Osisioma and further conveying them to various parts of the Southeast.
Ikpeazu said this at a stakeholders meeting with the top management team of NNPC, adding that this will enable easy flow of petroleum products across the Southeast, Daily Post reports.
He pointed out three key areas, which will help mitigate pipeline vandalization in the State.
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The governor disclosed that his government has carried out some intervention on Osisioma road which he described as a key enabler to guarantee the free flow of petroleum products in the region.
He said: “We are rebuilding the Osisioma Road using rigid pavement technology. This very road is key to our people.
“We had noticed that the road to that depot, which is a federal road, was bad and we intervened by hiring Willangy Construction Company to reconstruct it using the rigid pavement technology for the first 3km leading to the depot in order to ensure smooth transportation of products by articulated trucks.
“We also tried to do a drainage to take away storm water from it but the federal government then awarded same road for twice the amount of money we awarded it to another contractor and we’ve been going back and forth to Abuja to resolve the issue even to the point of asking them to allow us do even if just the first 3km with rigid pavement.
“I am hopeful that very soon we will resolve the issue as I am not asking for refunds but rather asking them to allow us to repair that road for the benefit of our people and for the protection of the strategic national infrastructure. I am hopeful we will resume work on that road very soon.”