By danivert

Copyright thesun

From Tony Osauzo, Benin

The slow pace of the reconstruction of the Benin-Sapele-Warri dual carriage road has become a source of worry to motorists, commuters, business owners and people living along the Benin end of the road.

Signs of failure of the road stretching from the by-pass area to the Ologbo-Koko junction became noticeable in 2018 due to poor maintenance of the road.

Motorists, commuters and business owners and residents of the affected areas however heaved a sigh of relief when contract for the Federal Road was awarded for reconstruction by the Government some years ago.

Notwithstanding the award of the contract, not much progress was made on the reconstruction of the road and at a stage the road became near impassable due to political differences between the state government under the immediate past administration which failed carry out palliative works, and the federal government whose duty it is to rehabilitate the road that linked the west to the South-south corridors.

To ameliorate the situation, the incumbent Edo State Government under Governor Monday Okpebholo, has taken over a portion of the road rehabilitation earlier awarded to Levant Construction Firm, a 5.5 kilometres of stone based and reinforced concrete pavement structure now already completed.

But commenting on the slow pace of work on the road, a resident of Ogheghe by the by-pass who gave his name as Igbinovia Lucky, said since he parked into his apartment in 2022, it has been a nightmare coming to the city and going back home at close of work.

According to him, more time is spent on the road especially in the evenings when workers are going back home.

He said “most times, a journey which ordinarily should take an average of 30 – 45 minutes, last up to 5 or 6 hours just from my place of work at the government secretariat to where I live in Ogheghe and same applies to other persons who live along that route or do business on that axis”.

Simirlarly, a transporter who ply his vehicle from Benin to Warri, Sunday Ochuko, said the bad state of the road has drastically reduced the number of trips per day for him and his other colleagues that ply the route.

“The bad state of the road has increased accident risks occasioned by trucks that often get stuck, tip over, or delay for days”.

He said “this result to incidents of theft, livestock being abandoned or offloaded from trucks, and security concerns including kidnappings along certain stretches”, pointing out that “vehicles suffer greater wear and tear with motorists spending more on fuel due to inefficiencies, slow speeds, detours and repairs”.

Speaking in a the same vein, a fruit seller who buys fruits from Benin to sell in Sapele who declined to give her identity, lamented the delays and losses of goods due to damage, spoilage, or pilferage.

She said because of the deplorable condition of the road, sellers many times have to raise prices because transporters have raised transport fares.

“Apart from that, businesses, individuals, lose hours. What might be a 1‑hour trip becomes 5‑6 hours. This reduces the number of trips, lowers work hours, increases delays in supply chains.

“The corridor is vital for trade between Edo and Delta States and beyond but poor quality road makes it harder to move goods efficiently to market, possibly reducing competitiveness”, she said.

Farmers face similar difficulties transporting produce; some goods spoil or get damaged before reaching markets thus harming their incomes, reduce food supply and raising costs.

“Fares for passengers have nearly doubled on the Benin to Sapele route Transport operators are making fewer trips per day. Business owner suffer low patronage because the road takes too much time or because vehicles break down. Goods are being damaged”, a business owner at the Ologbo end of the road lamented because according to him, trucks cannot access his products for even distribution”.