Anambra State Governor, Prof. Charles Soludo has clearly certified that the three flyovers in Awka are structurally stable for articulated vehicles.
The flyovers situated at Aroma, Akwata and Amawbia , in the state capital, were built and barricaded by the previous administration to prevent articulated vehicles from using them.
Soludo who certified the stability of the flyovers said the Materials and Laboratory Test Department conducted structural tests on them and as well invited the contractors for interrogation.
The governor said this while briefing newsmen through the State’s Commissioner for Works, Mr.
Ifeanyi Okoma, in his Awka office.
The Commissioner said that appropriate testing was conducted before allowing articulated vehicles to pass through the flyovers , otherwise the essence of constructing them would be defeated.
"First of all, before we came on board there were barricades across the flyovers because there were speculations that they were not structurally stable.
"We came on board and investigated it. The first thing we did was to invite Material Laboratory to do an integrity test, which they have done and the report shows that the flyovers are structurally stable.
"To take it further, we invited the contractors that built the flyovers, the IDC, and interrogated them . They said they were opposed to not allowing articulated vehicles to pass through that, that they were satisfied with what they did and there was no need to put a barrier.
"So I want to assure Ndi Anambra that structurally, the flyovers are sound and stable, so there is no need to prevent articulated vehicles from using them. If we do that, the essence of the flyover is defeated.
Speaking on the failed expansion of the flyovers, the commissioner regretted that some people went and vandalized the expansion materials, adding that arrangements had been finalized to fix them.
"It came to our notice last week that during the Monday sit at home which is almost non-existent in Anambra, these workers that sell scrab went there and pulled it out. We were shocked that such vandalization is done.
"Government is not happy about it and we use this opportunity to ask the general public to relate to appropriate authorities of anyone who knows or sees those vandalizing government properties.
"The governor will always say ‘see something, say something, hear something, say something’ which is geared toward building a liveable homeland. We plead on people to desist from the vandalization of government properties.
"The first thing we did when we noticed that the expansion materials have been taken off was to use alternative material.
"We are going to dimension them and use alternative materials that can’t be easily stolen. We will do it within the next few weeks because we understand it can cause damage to people’s vehicles.
"But we can’t put the materials when the place is wet, otherwise, it means we haven’t done the work and we won’t get value for our money."
