Lawmaker scores AKROIMA high, Says it can compete favourably with Julius Berger

Lawmaker scores AKROIMA high, Says it can compete favourably with Julius Berger

The Chairman Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly Committee on Works & Transport, Mr. Samuel Ufuo has observed that the Akwa Ibom State Roads & Other Infrastructure Maintenance Agency (AKROIMA) can compete favourably with its foreign counterpart, Julius Berger if adequately mobilized to meet the tasks before it.

Ufuo who represents the people of Mbo State Constituency made the observation when he led members of the Assembly Committee on an inspection tour to the Plant Yard of AKROIMA yesterday (Monday) in Uyo.  He also noted that among all the agencies in the State, AKROIMA is the most important, as it is the only agency that has revived the maintenance culture in the people of the state, the nation and Africa at large.

Commenting on the state of the facilities, Ufuo pointed out that with the caliber of machines at the plant yard, the Agency can construct and deliver quality roads in the state for easy access to rural areas.

The lawmaker also stressed the need to auction some of the malfunctioned equipments in the yard which are lying waste and depreciating by the day, in order to enable the state government use the money to acquire new, functional equipments for the grading of more roads in the state.

He commended the Chairman AKROIMA, Prince Godwin Ntukudeh, Ph.D for his ingenuity in reviving the Agency and giving a facelift to roads in the state as evidenced in the intervention on Uya Oro road and other roads in the state.

Ufuo used the occasion to make case for the funding of the Agency to grade more roads, especially in the rural areas, in order to make the roads accessible to vehicles, as the elections approach.  His words:

“In this election period, if this Agency can help to grade some sensitive roads in some Local Government Areas, it can go a long way to boost our campaigns and also provide easy delivery of election materials to the various voting units across the state.”

Ufuo assured of the Assembly’s commitments to partner the Agency in providing quality roads to the people of the state.

Conducting the lawmakers round the AKROIMA plant yard, the Chairman of the Agency, Prince Godwin Ntukudeh explained that despite the deplorable state he met some of the equipments in the yard with the premises outgrown with grass, he has been able to revive the place and purchase new equipments to replace some of the already depreciated ones that were beyond repairs.

He intimated that the Agency resumed in 2017 through the benevolence of Governor Udom Emmanuel who deemed it necessary to revive the maintenance culture in the state.  He carefully explained the steady progress of the Agency since his assumption of office to the lawmakers.

The AKROIMA boss also harped on the need to construct a permanent secretariat for the Agency at the plant yard in order to checkmate theft and vandalism of equipments in the yard.

Highpoint of the inspection tour was the presentation of AKROIMA Spotlight, a magazine which carries details of roads and other infrastructures maintenance carried out by the Agency to the House of Assembly members.

NSEOBONG ETOP UMOIDEM