The Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has said it will fix some bad portions on the Abakaliki-Enugu expressway and other roads ahead of the yuletide season.

The Federal Roads Maintenance Engineer (FRME) of the Agency in the state, Akinyemi Ojo, said in an interview in Abakaliki on Thursday that the agency was committed to fixing the nation’s roads.

Mr Ojo said the major challenges hindering the maintenance work on the federal roads in Ebonyi State were the rainy season and funding.

According to him, the rain has made it impossible to carry out meaningful work on the roads.

The FRME disclosed that the agency had concluded plans to fix bad portions on the trunk ‘A’ roads in the state for easy transportation during and after the yuletide.

“We have what we call ‘Operation Connect to Your Destinations,’ introduced by Dr Chukwuemeka Agbasi, Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Agency.

“It has been our major programme, especially during Christmas, and every state is mandated to pick a major road from the trunk ‘A’ category to work on.

“We usually direct our attention to the Abakaliki-Enugu expressway, which is usually busy during the period. You know, that road is among the important trunk A roads in the state,” Mr Ojo stated.

He listed other federal roads that needed attention in the state, including Amasiri-Okposi, Okposi-Onicha-Isu-Nara-Enugu and Afikpo-Okigwe.

“Others are the Owutu-Amasiri, Oso-Eda-Nguzo-Ohafia road and Afikpo-Unwana. These roads are in terrible condition.

“Well, we are happy that the rain has subsided, and hopefully, with our annual programme, ‘Operation Connect to Your Destination,’ the Abakaliki-Enugu highway will be freed from potholes.

“We could not do a lot of maintenance because of the heavy rain this year, 2025, especially in some of the trunk A roads. You know some roads have much economic value, and that’s why we have categories of the roads,” he said.

On the agency’s major work, Mr Ojo said that it was basically on direct labour projects and contracts.

“We did a lot of direct labour work in 2024 along Abakaliki-Enugu expressway way, where there was dangerous wash out. So, we were able to fix them,” he said.

Some transporters commended the federal government, noting that the importance of roads to sustainable development could not be overemphasised.

They, however urged FERMA to expedite works in an effort to cover  more federal roads in Ebonyi State.

 An Ebonyi trader, Theophilus Ogbodo, said he was happy with the move to maintain and fix the roads as Christmas drew closer

Mr Ogbodo said, “When the work is done, travelling and transportation of goods will be relatively easy.”
(NAN)